Toad and Toadette's Epic Adventures: The Trials
by Matt1251
Summary: The kingdom thought it was safe after the first three attacks, but it wasn't. Nowhere near. An old enemy returns from the shadows to plan another attack that will destroy the kingdom unhindered. Only two people, two Toads, can save their home from annihilation once again. The second book in the TATEA series.
1. Prologue

**Here it is! After almost three ****months, the first sequel to the Toad and Toadette's Epic Adventures saga is here! I'm hoping to get twice as many reviews! As I looked at the first book, it has 3,800 views, so if less than 2.5% of you review, we'd have 95 reviews, which is what I'm shooting for! ****I hope you guys like the series' revival! Read, review, and as always, enjoy!**

Chapter 1: Prologue

After Fawful was thrown off his reign of terror, the Mushroom Kingdom was peacefully quiet. The citizens were livelier than ever, talking in the town square every spare minute they found. Talking about the saviors of their people. Speaking of whom, Toad and Toadette's flame of love never diminished completely; true, they did have a few minor skirmishes over that amount of time, but they always made up for them. And that meant that their relationship only was fortified. That was all that the Mushroom Kingdom could talk about.

The Mario brothers chatted it up with their princesses, obviously, the man in green surprisingly more successful than the other. But, to the citizens, that news had been bored into their heads for some time now, and even they liked a change of pace in the daily bulletin. It was the most peaceful time the Mushroom Kingdom had ever known.

However, the tidings of happy times, as in all cities, could not last forever. The year that Fawful was defeated was also the year that an enemy with a new plan would commence his own attack.

And even the three-time Mushroom Kingdom defenders knew that the sky was filled with warnings of imminent doom...

To be continued...


	2. Vertical Velocity

**No reviews yet. Hmm. I'm not giving up, though!**

Chapter 2: Vertical Velocity

It was another bright, sunny day in the Mushroom Kingdom. It was summertime, so almost all of the children were outside, running around and playing whatever they could think up in their imaginative little minds. The rest of them, however, were busy playing the new game that just came out: Mario Kart 8. The new installment offered so many different ways to play, that some people just couldn't resist going to the store the first day it came out and getting their hands on it. Toad and Toadette were two of those people. At this time they were cooped up in Peach's Castle. Well, not exactly 'cooped up', since they were in a pretty big room. They were playing on the sky-based Special Cup course, Cloudtop Cruise. Many hazards littered the track, which they tried their best to avoid. They were shouting and laughing all the while, as they always did in their partnership.

"Stop bumping me!" Toad exclaimed, as Toadette was bumping him dangerously close to the edge of the track.

"You're the racer with more skill, so you get out of it!" Toadette shot back playfully, as she continued ramming the kart. Their virtual counterparts looked at each other while racing.

"How did they get the racers to do that?" Toad questioned, as he noticed the visual effect.

"I don't know, but I like it! All they have to do now is make us blush when we look at each other." They both giggled. Toad finally got out of Toadette's ramming chain, and drove forward. They were only racing with each other, as Toad made it so. There were no items, either. Toad stayed in first for the remainder of Lap 2.

"Final lap, Toadette." he mentioned, as he entered Lap 3. "Better catch up." Toadette crossed the finish line about three seconds behind him.

"You know I can make some epic comebacks, right?"

"Yeah, but who says I'm going to let you?" Toad shot back, as he did a trick in mid-air. They stayed in these positions for most of the lap, until Toad took a turn too tight and fell off.

"No!" He got picked up by Lakitu, and placed back on the track, but not before Toadette had already passed him. "Oh, you're going to get it!" he exclaimed, playful as ever. He continued racing.

"You can't catch me!" Toadette said, also playful. They stayed in these positions for the remainder of the race, as Toadette crossed the finish line only a second ahead.

"Yes! I win, I win!" Toadette danced around the room in victory.

"Only because I let you!" Toad shot back. "Want another race?"

"Sure!" They clicked 'Change Course', picked another track, and soon enough, they were starting all over again.

To be continued...

**I actually posted some Time Trials on Youtube! Here they are! Just copy the youtube part and paste in the rest.**

** watch?v=qBMAuZClhSg**

** watch?v=Wau8_1cj5yY**


	3. Shattered

**Another long hiatus. Sorry, guys. School snuck up on me, even at the end of the year. Anyway, enjoy this long awaited chapter, everyone! This is where things start to get the feeling of 'trials'. Needless to say, it gets a bit dark...**

Chapter 3: Shattered

Two days later, the freshmen Toads were back at school. After six periods of learning, studying, and singing, they went to the one class they hated; Physical Education. Sure, the teacher from last year was already gone, but this one wasn't much better. His name was Mr. Sacramento. He stood guard in the locker rooms, to make sure they were dressing out without interruption. The girl's locker room was partitioned off the boy's with a wall, and Mr. Sac's office was in the middle, so that he could see them both. Toadette was already in her respective locker room, dressing out. Toad followed a minute later, walking into the boy's room… or so he thought.

Little did he know that a switcheroo was pulled on him by a certain brunette princess. Daisy walked into her locker room, chuckling, as she finished hanging up the fake sign. Toad walked into what was really the girl's locker room. He didn't know of this until one girl spotted the intruder and shrieked loud enough so every girl could hear. All eyes were on him, as he stopped in his tracks. After a moment of looking sheepish, he turned away and ran to the entrance. Daisy chuckled. She purposefully walked right in front of him, causing Toad to slam into her, knocking both of them to the ground, landing him in a very uncomfortable position. Toadette saw it all. She walked up to them both and looked at him solemnly. Toad looked at her.

"It… It isn't what it looks like!" He tried to reason with her. The solemn stare continued. Toad looked around the room, his rage building internally. Finally, when Daisy tried to stand up, he pushed her down to the ground.

"**_This is all your fault!"_** he yelled, loud enough for everyone to hear. He then turned away, ran to the entrance, and slammed the metal door with such force that loose papers flew in Daisy's face. He ran to the front office, crying all the way, leaving a trail of tears where he went. Presently, Toadette began to suspect that it wasn't his fault. She went to the door, opened it, and called his name. No answer. She stepped outside, and called again. No answer. Then she turned the corner, viewed the front office, and called him one last time. No answer. Finally, she ran, ran past classrooms, bursting through the front doors and away from the campus, to return to school no more that day. For she had no one among the strangers around her to exchange sorrows or anger with.

And as she ran towards the castle, she didn't know that a single tear had slipped from her face.

To be continued…

**My P.E. teacher's name is actually Mr. Sacramento, which is what I based the fictional Mr. Sac off of. I tried to reflect his personality. He's a nice guy, he's just pretty loud. And when you get him ticked off, it won't be pretty, as you guys will see in the next chapter! **


	4. Daisy's Consequences

Chapter 4: Daisy's Consequences

Meanwhile, back in the locker rooms, Mr. Sac was furious.

"Who's shouting in my locker room?" He walked out of the office, towards the locker's entrance. "I don't want yelling in my locker room, Sarasa."

"But I wasn't yelling, Mr. Sac!" Daisy defended.

"That's what they all say. Where's Toadette?"

"I don't know." Daisy lied.

"She ran away." A Toad spoke up.

"She ran away from my locker room?" Mr. Sac asked, his voice rising. "Why?" The Toad walked out of the locker room, and came back with the fake sign.

"Well, this explains a lot." He turned the sign over. Instantly, his eyes narrowed. "Is this your sign, Sarasa?" He showed the students the back of the sign, which was faintly emblazoned with a flower, Daisy's emblem. She slowly nodded.

"Get in my office. Hurry." She did. "You're killing me, Sarasa." he murmured, as he followed into his office. The students resumed their duties. When the office door was closed, Mr. Sac began.

"Why did she leave, Sarasa?"

"I tripped Toad to the ground, and landed him in... Well, let's just say that Toadette didn't like it." Daisy admitted.

"I see." Sacramento mused. "You know sexual harassment isn't okay in here, right?"

"I know, sir."

"Well, we'll just have to take this to another level. Truth is, I saw all of it. And you just insulted two of the finest students in this class. Come with me." Sac paced out of the locker room. Daisy followed.

Later, they arrived at the front office.

"May I speak with Derek, please?" Derek was Principal O' Shawnessy's first name.

"Of course. I don't think he's in a meeting right now." The secretary led them to Shawnessy's office.

"What brings you here, Leo?" Leo was Sac's first name.

"This little girl here has just commited a major transgression."

"Tell me." Leo told him the details. "Sarasa, you should know better than this. Why did you do it? You made a huge rift in their relationship together."

"I... I don't know, sir."

"And you know sexual harassment is a huge problem. We're going to have to take drastic measures to keep this from happening again."

"I understand, sir."

"Daisy, you are hereby suspended from Mushroom Junior High school for the rest of the week. In doing so, you may not be on or near any school grounds during that time. Also, you may not participate in extra-curricular activities for two weeks."

"What? But the dance is this Friday!" Daisy protested.

"I'm sorry, Daisy. It's what must be done. You can't participate in the dance or any other activity. Is that clear?" Daisy said nothing.

"Is that clear, Sarasa?" Leo repeated.

"Yes, Mr. Sac." Daisy agreed.

"Good. Your father will come pick you up. You may go." Daisy trudged out of the office, a shameful expression on her face. _I'll kill him for this! I can just kill him! _She pounded the door as she walked out.

To be continued...

**'But the dance is this Friday!' FORESHADOWING...**


	5. Castle Consideration

Chapter 5: Castle Consideration

Toadette arrived at Peach's Castle as she thrust open the doors. Peach ran over to her.

"Oh hi, Toadette! How's my favorite little mushroom doing?" No answer, as she continued walking. Peach became a bit worried.

"Is something the matter? Did something happen?" Still no answer. Finally, when Peach stopped in front of her, Toadette pushed her down, and leaned over her.

"Get away from me." she said, coldly, as she continued walking up the steps. The Princess sat there, dazed.

"What happened, Toadette? Could you at least tell me that?"

"I said, get away!" Toadette shouted back, obviously angry at her. "Something happened at school that I don't want to talk about!"

"Does it involve T-" Toadette cut her off.

"Don't even speak his name! As far as I know, our relationship is ruined! Now _get away from me!_"

"Why are you talking about your relationship with him like that?" Peach asked.

"I said it because it's true, okay? Now leave me alone!" Toadette started up the steps, on the verge of tears due to her anger and frustration. She ran through the hallways, attracting the attention of servants. They burst out of their doors and looked at her running away from them. Most of them looked on in wonder at what she was facing, but a few were simply there to admire her looks.

"Man, she is one cute chick." a servant piped up, and everyone that agreed with him laughed. The others just looked at him in disgust. Toadette threw open the door to her room, not bothering to close it after her, and jumped up, sprawling on the settee. Then she began to notice the tears coming from her eyes. Her sniffles echoed throughout the hall, because of her open door. Servants rushed to gather by her door, and Toadette didn't notice, as she was too busy dealing with her emotions.

"What happened?" one servant whispered to another.

"I don't know. All I know is that something big must have happened in order to make her cry like that." the other replied. Toadette heard this, and responded to him, still sniffling.

"Yes, and it's true! Something big happened at school." She was calmer now, anger wise, but still fluctuating. The servants sat there for a few minutes, listening to her, murmuring about what could've happened to her. Some of them walked away in the middle of this process, but others always took their places.

"No matter what happens, you're still cute!" The same differing servant yelled over the murmuring. Everyone turned to look at him, and he blushed.

"Thanks for the compliment." Toadette responded halfheartedly. "I don't want to talk about this right now, okay?" The servants nodded almost as one entity, and walked away, but one stuck around a moment longer.

"Poor gal, that Toadette. Hope she'll be okay." he murmured, then walked away like all the others.

To be continued...


	6. Rainstorm

Chapter 6: Rainstorm

As Toadette fought a constant battle with her feelings, school had let out on the campus. Principal O' Shawnessy had already offered him a ride home, since he knew everyone's addresses from their records they sent in, but Toad shook his head at that offer, and instead just walked home. It was about twelve blocks from the school to the castle. Toad decided to go there because he thought Toadette was going to go to the house, as she always did, and he wanted to be separate from her, at least for now. When he reached the sixth block, it started to rain. Toad could barely feel the raindrops on his face at first, but the rain grew in intensity until it was a moderate rain that had him soaked. He began singing a song he had learned in choir class.

_Something's coming_

_I can tell_

_From the heavens_

_From the well_

_Moving eastward_

_From the west,_

_Dark and angry_

_Will it rest?_

He motioned with his hands to signal 'eastward' and 'west'.

_Something's stirring_

_In my soul_

_Anxious moments_

_In control_

He emphasized the consonants at the end of the phrases a lot, as he was taught.

_Like the rumblings_

_Deep inside_

_Bathe the spirit_

_I confide_

He reached the chorus, and started to sing a bit louder.

_Feel now,_

_Can you?_

_Rain, rain, rain, rain, rain..._

_Feel now,_

_Can you?_

_Rain, rain, rain, rain, rain..._

As the instrumental break started, he listened to the raindrops fall around him, as if they were part of the song. He wrung out his vest a little bit, but it had no effect, as more rain just soaked it further. The second verse began.

_It's not over_

_Can't you hear?_

_Distant thunder,_

_Distant fear_

_One more battle_

_In the sky_

_Raging, whirling_

_Vapor fly_

He motioned again to visualize the vapor flying around him.

_Feel now,_

_Can you?_

_Rain, rain, rain, rain, rain..._

_Feel now,_

_Can you?_

_Rain, rain, rain, rain, rain..._

The raindrops blended in with the song again, then it ended. Toad kept walking.

"Man, of all the times to have it start raining, it's when I choose to walk home." he murmured. He arrived at the castle, but then saw a restaurant to the right of it. A private restaurant, reserved only to the highest of servants, including him. He decided to wear out his troubles by walking in. It was lively in there, as the other Toads were busy having a drink or watching sports on the TV. Toad joined them, but he wasn't very enthusiastic about the game that was being played on the screen.

Not when his game with Toadette had already been lost.

To be continued...


	7. A Ruler's Wisdom

**Three chapters in one day? I'm on a roll, here!**

Chapter 7: A Ruler's Wisdom

"Two more milks, please." Toad slammed his glass down on the table.

"Dude, at this rate, we'll be out before the night is over. Take it easy." The bartender argued.

"I'm paying you, aren't I? I said two more."

"All right." The bartender took the glass and went off. Toad just sat there on the stool, thinking about everything that went on that day. The rain was still pouring outside. The glass was brought back full of milk, and Toad took it. He didn't drink it just yet. Instead, he put the glass by his side and continued to watch the television, which was playing the sports channel as always. After a few minutes, he stood up, took the glass, and exited the restaurant. He took a few sips as he walked up the stairs to the third floor of the castle.

As he walked down the hall to his room, he eyed another room very close to his. He looked at the emblem and almost cried. It was Toadette's room. He put his ear to the peephole, and listened closely, but he heard nothing. He stepped back a bit.

"If it's any consolation..." he whispered. He took the glass of white liquid, set it outside the door, and walked into his room, closing the door behind him. He sat on his bed, eyeing the door, as if he were expecting someone to barge in right at that very moment. Then he sighed, and lay face down on the pillow. Half an hour later, there was a soft knock at the door.

"Who is it?" Toad asked, not in his usual, cheery tone that he produced when someone usually tried to enter.

"It's the Princess." Peach answered. "May I come in?"

"Please do." Toad replied, and the door swung open. Peach walked across the room and lay down on the bed with him.

"I heard from Toadette that something happened at school. Can you fill me in?" Toad sighed.

"If I must. It all started at seventh period today, when we were dressing out in P.E. We were dressing out, in our locker rooms, as usual, right?"

"Right."

"So Toadette's in her locker room, I walk over, and didn't notice that someone had switched around the signs."

"Oh, no! That's terrible!"

"That's not even the beginning. When I walked into the girl's locker room, accidentally of course, someone shrieked so loud that everyone, and I mean _everyone, _turned to look at me. I just stood there, pretty much saying 'hi' in this kind of sheepish voice that you get when you're nervous, and ran the other way." He paused.

"So? What happened, Toad?"

"Well, Daisy, of all people, decided to walk in front of me, _on purpose, _and trip me so that I slam into the ground on top of her." Peach gasped. "So I'm in the position of torture, basically. I mean, imagine it. It looks like I'm, you know, 'doing it' with her, right?"

"Right, go on..."

"And here's the worst part. Toadette sees _everything._" Peach suppressed a shout. He took a pause in between each of the last three words. "I tried to reason with her, but she keeps staring at me like I've committed a crime." He could feel tears trying to bust through his system. "Then I stand up, push Daisy to the ground, and run to the office. That was basically it."

"Wow... No wonder Toadette was so angry when she showed up here."

"She's here?"

"Yeah. Why wouldn't she be?"

"Well, that throws a wrench in the works. I don't want her to see me. I think that'll doom our relationship for good..." He started sniffling. "I mean, it was going all but perfectly... And now... Now I did it... Now I changed her... Now she's gone. It's over..." He started crying into the pillow he was laying on. "I really did it this time, Princess! How could I be so stupid?" The tears were now visible on the pillow, as he cried harder.

"Oh, Toad, it's okay... I'll go talk with her about this." Peach compromised, in a soothing voice. "I bet she's thinking a totally different thing than you. Okay?"

"I suppose you can try..." The Princess nodded, stood up, and walked away to the room next door, with Toad still crying his heart out over the one person he truly loved.

To be continued...


	8. The Honest Truth

**Four in one day! I think I'm experiencing my first case of writer's boom!**

Chapter 8: The Honest Truth

Peach walked over to Toadette's room, but before she opened the door, she saw the glass of milk carefully positioned by Toad near the entrance. She walked back to his room, and held out the glass.

"Did you put this there?" she asked him. He nodded, still crying. She walked back to the other room. "How romantic." She knocked on the door. Almost as soon as she did, Toadette opened it.

"Hi, Toadette."

"Hey, Princess." Toadette replied, just a little cheerier than when she arrived. "What brings you here?"

"I was just wondering if we can, you know, talk about the things that happened today. Toad filled me in on some details that I'm sure you'd like to know."

"Okay, then." Peach started to walk in, but Toadette stopped her. "Do you mind if we go downstairs?"

"No, not at all." So they did, walking back through the halls and down the stairs. Toad servants looked at them, but they didn't care. They walked into a room marked, "Employees Only", and closed the door. It was a closet, but it was quite roomy, as frilly jackets and sweaters lined the walls.

"So, what happened?"

"Well, you know what happened earlier today, right? With Toad?" She nodded, and actually didn't mind her speaking his name at this time. "What if I told you it wasn't his fault?" Toadette gasped.

"It wasn't?"

"No, not at all. Daisy was the one who had switched the signs, and purposefully tripped Toad, to make it look like he was with her, when really he was very, very uncomfortable in that position." Peach finished her explanation, and Toadette sat there, speechless.

"Oh, no... Please, tell me this isn't real... Please tell me that I didn't falsely accuse him!"

"I'm sorry, Toadette. It's the truth. The truth hurts."

"I should have listened to him! I should have listened to myself all along!" At that moment, she burst into such a display of sadness and despair that Peach was stricken and taken aback with the idea that she might lose her reason.

"Toadette, it's okay. I'm sure he'll forgive you."

"How can you be sure? I basically blew him off by not listening to his opinion, which was what really mattered!" She continued to cry. "To lose him, the one that I held so dear to me... I might as well kill myself!"

"Toadette, you're speaking in anger. You can't mean what you're saying."

"I mean exactly that!"

"Toadette, please..." Peach pleaded with her. She calmed down a little bit, still crying, but not as much as before.

"Okay. I'm sorry about that. Sometimes I get flared up like that."

"Yeah, me too."

"Still, though... How am I possibly going to get him back now?"

"I don't know." Peach admitted. Then there was silence, only penetrated by Toadette's sniffling. There was such a stir of pent up emotion that they almost didn't hear the knock at the door.

To be continued...


	9. Sweet, Sweet Revenge

**I'm only at five reviews in nine chapters, guys! I greatly appreciate you leaving a review on every chapter, good or bad! Anyways, enjoy! It's the first real battle scene.**

Chapter 9: Sweet, Sweet Revenge

The person who opened the door of the employee closet was none other than the Princess who had caused them so much trouble, Daisy. For a moment, the two people inside just stood there, not exactly sure how to proceed. Daisy was worried.

"You two okay?" Those were the last three words that would be coming out of her mouth for a while, as Toadette sprang up, leaped on top of her, and pushed her down to the ground. She yelped in surprise.

"What were you even thinking back there, Daisy?" Toadette said through clenched teeth. "You made me lose the one thing that I couldn't live without! And now... Now you're going to pay..." She stood up, and aggressively pulled Daisy along with her to the kitchen. There they saw a stick of butter and a knife. Toadette took both and showed them to her. Daisy was a little shocked, so she couldn't move.

"This," Toadette began, showing her the knife, "is me. And this," she continued, showing her the stick of yellow paste, "is your face. After I get through _mangling it!_". She thrust the knife into the butter, and pounced on top of Daisy.

"See? This is what you did to him! This is what made us lose our relationship together! If anything, you should be thanking me for making you realize what you've done!" She swiftly pulled back a bit and punched her. Her fist connected with Daisy's face, as she recoiled.

"You like that, huh? I can wholeheartedly assume that that was what you were going to do to him if you hadn't been caught! Right?" She waited for an answer, but nothing came; Daisy was too shocked at her behavior. "I'll take that as a yes." She punched her two more times. Her fists were clenched so tightly, her knuckles were turning white. What about your relationship with Luigi, huh? Would you like it if I did that to him?" Now Daisy blushed, thinking about the connection she had with the tall plumber, but also how Toadette knew about it.

"N-No..." Daisy stammered, the first word that she spoke in fifteen minutes. She was now beginning to express emotions of fear; Toadette's face was contorted in anger, an expression that Daisy had never seen in her before. And she knew that Toadette only got angry like this if she had a good reason. And this was the best reason she had in years. Toadette took the knife from the kitchen table again.

"So, this is what it has come to. Until you apologize..." She made a slicing gesture with the knife, which immediately drove the point home. Daisy flinched. Toadette brought the knife to the skin of her neck. As she began to move, Daisy finally cracked.

"Okay, okay, I'm sorry!" She pulled away. "I didn't mean to! Well, I did, but..." She was worried that if she said the former, then Toadette would be on top of her again.

"That's good. I'm glad we understand each other." Toadette dropped the knife to the tiled floor, hearing the ping of the steel colliding with the tile. She held out a hand, and Daisy took it.

"But seriously, if you have to do this, do it with Waluigi, not Toad." They both laughed, as they knew about Waluigi's secret crush on a certain cosmic Princess.

"I'll make sure of it." Toadette left Daisy where she sat, picked up the knife, and walked upstairs to her room. The servants saw the weapon in her hand, and shouted in sudden shock.

"Where'd you get that?"

"What are you doing with that thing?"

"She's a murderer!" Toadette responded to the last statement.

"Of course I'm not! I was just trying to prove a point with this thing." She continued walking, up to her room, and closed the door behind her. Then loneliness set in again, as she thought about Toad once again, and what Daisy had done. She immediately removed the thought of the latter from her mind.

_That's already settled, Toadette. No need to dwell on it again. _She sat there in silence, as she felt the tears coming once again, as she knew that what she had done with Daisy had done almost nothing to change things. She only changed Daisy's thoughts, and even then it was iffy. The real matter at hand was if Toad would even forgive her for the act she had committed. And she had done nothing to sway the balance in her favor with that predicament. The tears came again. _I've done nothing. Why, Toadette? How can you be such an idiot? _

The sniffles were once again audible from her, though only inside her room. She finally broke down and started crying, her tears falling down onto the bed sheets. She only stopped when she heard footsteps approaching her bedroom door.

To be continued...


	10. Reconciliation

**Get ready, guys, cause this is planned to be another tear jerker, just like last book's Chapter 10! Hope you enjoy, and prepare some tissues!**

Chapter 10: Reconciliation

Toad stood outside Toadette's door, waiting for an answer. The door didn't open as it usually did in his presence.

"Can I come in?" he asked, in a soft tone, that let Toadette know that it was him.

"You can come." Toadette replied, and the door swung open. Toad found her laying on the bed, and sat down next to her.

"What are you still crying about?" Toad asked again, as he noticed that Toadette was still crying a little bit. "You know that I didn't do that on purpose... I didn't really mean to hurt you like this."

"No, no, Toad, it isn't that. I found out everything from Peach. Then I saw Daisy, and basically beat the living daylights out of her." Toad chuckled.

"So what are you still mad about?"

"Toad, it's complicated." She sighed. "I think I'm to blame for this."

"No, you aren't! Don't do what I think you're doing..."

"Everyone says that! I don't know what's true and what's not! The way I looked at you back there..." She cried harder. "I wish I could take that back! If it weren't for that, this would've never happened! I'm so sorry, Toad!" She burst into a fresh stream of tears, in which Toad responded by putting his arms around her and holding her softly.

"Shhhh. It's okay, Toadette. It doesn't matter anymore. You're of no more to blame than me." She was still crying. Toad's hands caressed her back. "I forgive you, Toadette. Dry your tears. It's going to be okay..." With those caring, compassionate words, Toadette's tears slowed to a trickle, then finally ceased altogether.

"It'll be okay, Toadette. Just remember that I'll always be right here for you, no matter what. I was speaking in anger back there, and I didn't mean what I said. I always want to be by your side, knowing that we'll do everything for each other. It makes me want you all the more." Toadette blushed at these words.

"You're so sweet, Toad." She moved a bit closer. "I think I know how to make it up to you..." By this time, their faces were only inches apart, slowly but steadily lessening this distance as they became more and more attracted to each other. Toad could feel what was coming next, and he wanted her. He loved her. This was the time to show her that. The solitary centimeter that separated them now was about to be eradicated.

"Toadette... I just want you to know... that I love you with all my heart."

"I love you too, Toad..." She closed the gap, and together they built up to a magical kiss of love, under the cover of darkness.

And with this kiss, Toad knew, Toadette was taking him back into her life, that the affection between them was growing by the second, that their love had reawakened as something even brighter than before. Nothing could bring them back. They had reunited.

Toad lay down, pulling her with him, and soon they were under the sheets of Toadette's bed.

"Toadette, I love you."

"You've said something like that about ten times today, Toad!" she exclaimed, laughing. He had missed that giggle of hers, and it was truly wonderful to see it coming back within her.

"I know. I just can't help it. I really do."

"Well, I do too, Toad. I really, truly love you..." She embraced him with a gentle, warm touch, and pretty soon, she had closed her eyes and drifted off to sleep. Toad, still being held by his partner, repositioned himself and kissed her again.

It was a night he'd never, ever forget. The scenery outside seemed to compliment that, as the moonlight illuminated their time together. He couldn't stop from smiling as he really enjoyed the warm embrace of his partner. Pretty soon, he was joining her in sleep, finally ending one of the most affectionate nights he'd ever had.

To be continued...


	11. Questions Answered

**You guys thought that this would be the end of Part One and the beginning of Part Two, huh? Nope!**

Chapter 11: Questions Answered

The two Toads stayed like that through most of the night, wrapped in each other's embrace. Then, out of nowhere, the blankets shifted, and a moan of tiredness escaped from Toad. He sat up, causing Toadette's arms to slink down to the pillow which he used to be occupying.

"I can't sleep." he muttered to himself. He thought about the reason for a minute. Then he turned to look at the other side of the bed. Toadette was sleeping soundly, no worries whatsoever. Toad looked at the clock, which read 2:12 A.M, then back at Toadette. She was still, in the calmness of the night. Her eyes were closed, obviously in an expression of sleep. But there was something about her closed eyes that was not so obvious.

Toad could perceive it. There was something about them. Then the word clicked. _Love. _ He stared at her, as if he doubted that the word he was perceiving was the right word to describe her this way. But he knew that wasn't the case. It was the perfect word to describe her like this. She was closing her eyes, in an expression of love. Maybe it was because of the embrace that Toad executed before she went to sleep, or maybe she was dreaming about the events of the previous day. It didn't matter.

All that mattered was that, with this expression, those events became suddenly obsolete in his mind. _No, wait, scratch that. They're not obsolete. They're just... _He once again struggled with the right word. _They're the opposite. They're significant. _

"Why are they significant?" he thought out loud. He mused on this matter for a couple minutes. "Wait, I know. It's because... they contributed to... hmmm..." He was having trouble with words right now. He looked at her once again, still sleeping as soundly as before, and, once again, the words clicked in his mind. "They contributed to our relationship together, huh? Yeah." He agreed with himself, and lay back down. "I better tell Toadette about this in the morning. She just looks so peaceful..." He sighed, but then realized that he was laying down on top of Toadette's hands.

Without a word, he sat up again, held her hands up, lay back down, and carefully guided them around him, so that they were in the exact same position as they were before he woke. He could hear a soft, but audible, coo from Toadette. She liked it. Even when she was dreaming, she could still perceive the events in the real world. He liked that about her. He closed her eyes, and attempted to join her in dreamland. He did, and pretty soon, a smile crept up on his face. He was enjoying it, too.

The rest of the night passed without incident. The alarm went off, per usual, at exactly seven in the morning, but both of them didn't notice, as they were too occupied with each other. The alarm rang again ten minutes later. This time, they both noticed. They both went to shut it off, and their hands touched the button at the same time. They looked at each other.

"Good morning, Toad!" Toadette greeted.

"Good morning, Toadette." he replied, as they sat up on the bed. Toad reached for the remote to the television, and pretty soon, a game show was on.

"Good morning, Mushroom Kingdom, and welcome to Love Triangle." the announcer stated.

"God, I hate this show." Toad mumbled.

"Then why are we watching?" Toadette asked.

"Well, scratch that. I hate most of it. The part I like is the Trust Buster. You know, when they hook them up to the lie detector?"

"Oh, that part's funny!"

"Yeah, I know. Their faces are just..." He mimicked a silly face, and they both burst out laughing.

"Yeah, it's all like, 'I love you, Martha!' Buzz buzz!" The 'buzz buzz' was his impression of the buzzer that rang when the person lied. Their laughter grew.

"And then they tell some stupid story, like the time when Martha had a husband and three kids. And then they still try to win her over, and I'm like, 'This isn't going to go anywhere, is it?'"

"Yeah, screw the date, because at this rate, you're less appealing then a crate, young man!" They laughed again.

"Was the rhyming intentional?" Toad asked, because 'date', 'rate', and 'crate' all rhymed.

"Yes, it was."

"Oh, I think they're on the Trust Buster now! Look!" They looked at the TV, and sure enough, two guys were strapped to lie detectors, red and blue Toads, while a third person, a Yellow Toad girl, stood with cards in her hand.

"Okay, Sherri, you can ask them any question you want on these cards."

"Walter..." She pointed to the Red Toad. "Have you drank any alcohol for the past twenty years?"

"No." Walter replied. To his dismay, the buzzer rang. Toad and Toadette burst out laughing.

"Tom..." Sherri pointed to the Blue Toad. "Have _you_ drank any alcohol for the past twenty years?"

"No." he replied. The bell rang, which signified that he was telling the truth. Everyone clapped.

"I mean, my friends keep pressuring me, but all you have to do is say no, and they'll stop." Tom added on.

"Okay, next question." Sherri paused. "Walter, have you ever had any kind of sexual intercourse with anyone?" The Toads that were watching laughed again, the laughter stronger than before.

"What?" Toad asked, in disbelief. "Girl, you should never ask a guy that kind of stuff!"

"Yes." Walter admitted, and the bell rang.

"Oh, wow!" Toad exclaimed. "He's done. He's dead as a door nail in that relationship!"

"Tom, have you had any kind of sexual intercourse with anyone?"

"No." Tom said. Again, the bell rang. Everyone applauded again, including the Toads that were watching.

"Okay. This will be interesting... I like that Walter told the truth on that one, even when he was pressured not to. Last question." Sherri went on. "Walter, and I know this is generic, but... Do you love me?"

"Oh, absolutely." Walter replied. After a silence, the bell rang. Everyone clapped.

"This could be the deciding factor. Tom, do you love me?"

"Yes." Tom said. Another silence. Then came the buzzer.

"Oh, no!" Toad cried out, laughing. "I knew it! He's a poser!"

"All right." The host came out again. Walter and Tom went to their positions, behind their doorways.

"Here's the deal, Sherri. You've listened to questions, and you've got answers. The question now is, 'Who do you want in your life?'. The side of the button that you push will close the door on one of your relationships. You have plenty of time to think." The lights dimmed. Sherri took some time fluctuating over each of the two buttons. One pointed to Walter, the other to Tom. She put her hand over the former's button, and that got Tom's hopes up.

Then, her hand rapidly switched to the other button, and pressed it. The translucent glass door slammed shut. Toad turned off the TV. Toadette looked at him.

"I hate the mushy celebrations." he explained, and chuckled.

"Me too." she agreed. After they got dressed, looking away of course, they walked downstairs. The servants looked at them quizzically. Toadette shot them a wink, and they immediately got the point. Then they started clapping, the applause growing. Eventually, it was so loud that the Princess could hear it from downstairs. She walked up.

"What is going on he-" She stopped when she saw that Toad and Toadette were together, holding hands. She smiled.

"I think this explains everything, huh?" she asked.

"It sure does, Princess." Toad assured. "It sure does."

To be continued...


	12. The Dance

Chapter 12: The Dance

The city dance. A place of music turned up to the highest volume level just to see people do the 'Harlem Shake'. The courtyards of Peach's Castle turned into dance floors, as almost the entire population of the kingdom was there. The two Toads, on the other hand, were still preparing.

"Would you hurry up?" Toad asked, waiting outside the bathroom door. "I'm trying to get to the dance on time, you know." He was already in his suit, which was a blue, button-down jacket that had the exact same colors as his vest.

"This dress doesn't put on itself, Toad!" Toadette replied. After a few minutes, the door finally opened. There she stood, in a vest that was a bit shorter than usual, with a frilly gown at the bottom. Toad patted her shoulder.

"You look beautiful in that." he complimented, and Toadette blushed.

"Thanks, Toad. You do too."

"Why, thank you." They began to walk downstairs, where the dance was happening in the courtyard.

"Wait." Toadette stopped abruptly, almost making Toad trip over her. "I think I know a place where we can go." She began walking back upstairs. Toad looked at her, confused, but then quickly followed. They walked up to the balcony overlooking the courtyard. Peach was already there.

"What are you guys doing here?" she asked. Her attire was the usual dress that she wore.

"I think there's a sing-off here, right?"

"Oh, yes, there is! I was just going to announce that! Thanks for reminding me." She picked up the microphone standing next to her, and patted the head of it, causing feedback that caused everyone to turn towards her.

"Good evening, Mushroom Kingdom!" she greeted. Applause from the crowd followed. "I almost forgot about this. We are hosting our second annual Sing-Off!" More applause. "But this time, it is not a competition. Man or woman, boy or girl, experienced or not, you are all welcome! No pressure! Get out there and sing!" She turned off the mic and walked back to the main interior of the castle. Six people followed her. After a minute, Toad was the only one back out on the balcony.

"This is how I felt like today." Everyone turned in his direction. He began, with no instrumental accompaniment at first.

_I've got these letters tattooed on my arm_

_That remind me each second of where I come from_

_And the long, hard road_

_To guide me back home..._

He had a bit of a higher-pitched voice, but was still singing the correct notes. The music started. People clapped, as they knew he was singing "Home" by American Authors. After four measures of that, he began singing again.

_Back to my mama who raised me up right_

_And back to my lady I held every night_

At the second line, he gestured to Toadette, also on stage.

_It's a long, hard road_

_Trying to get home_

_I've been gone, now, for too long..._

The music cresendoed, as he sang the chorus.

_I'm not trying to stop a hurricane_

_I'm not trying to shake the ground below_

_I'm just trying to find a way_

_To make it back home..._

_I'm not trying to part the ocean waves_

_I'm not trying to overthrow the throne_

_I'm just trying to find a way_

_To bring you back home..._

_I'm just trying to get home_

People clapped again. Toadette winked at him to continue. He did.

_I've got this image engraved in my mind_

_Of a life that I had in a whole different time_

_It still breathes and lives _

_At the end of the road_

_I see mountains and valleys through my missing days _

_But I never once parted with how you begged me to stay_

_I will run this long, hard, and treacherous road to get home..._

_I'm not trying to stop a hurricane_

_I'm not trying to shake the ground below_

_I'm just trying to find a way_

_To make it back home_

_I'm not trying to part the ocean waves _

_I'm not trying to overthrow the throne_

_I'm just trying to find a way_

_To bring you back home..._

_I'm just trying to get home_

_I'm just trying to get home..._

He cut it off there, as he wanted to let the other people sing. The audience roared in applause, as he took a bow. He walked through the curtains and back to the interior of the castle. Toadette was there too as she hugged him.

"That was wonderful."

"Man, and I thought I was going to be nervous up there." He giggled. Let's watch the others, huh?" Toadette nodded, took his hand, and they walked back down and blended in with the audience. The next performers came up, Mario and Peach. Coldplay's "A Sky Full of Stars" was their number. Next was Luigi and Daisy, with OneRepublic's "Secrets". Toad was thinking about that one, as he wondered how Daisy got here when she was on restriction, but he shrugged it off. As the show went on, people began to become more enthusiastic. At the end, the loudest applause yet enveloped the entire castle, as the six participants took their respective bows. After that, they walked off their separate ways, Toad surprisingly breaking away from Toadette for a moment in order to get his food that Peach had laid out for the dancers.

The buffet consisted of several tables, each almost sagging under the weight of chicken, pasta, rice, soup, and the like. Toad got himself a serving of grilled chicken and spiraled pasta, where he then took a knife and cut up the chicken, stirring it into the pasta. He then walked off to find Toadette again, which was unsurprisingly difficult because of the amount of dancers he had to look through. Eventually he gave up, and sat down at a table far away, hoping that Toadette would come to him. She didn't, however, which worried him. After he finished his food, he walked out into the courtyard.

"Toadette, you here?" No answer. "Toadette, where are you?" He saw something in the sky and squinted. It was an airship. He almost shrugged and walked off, but then he stopped in his tracks and looked again. "It can't be... It is... They're here!" He rushed off after the airship, gaining speed by the second. He knew that something was about to rain on his parade.

To be continued...

**Cliffhanger! Leave a review on who you think the villain is!**


	13. Soldiers of Servitude

Chapter 13: Soldiers of Servitude

The airship chugged along in the sky, puffs of smoke billowing out of its smokestack. Toad ran after it. As it got farther, however, the smoke became thicker, and the airship slowed.

"What in the name of a Koopa is this?" a voice shouted. It could have been heard outside, but Toad was too busy running. The airship stopped and landed. "Out of fuel? We're never out of fuel!"

"That's the least of your problems. I think someone's coming!" another voice shouted back. Toad climbed up the side of the ship and onto the deck. Goombas and Koopas lined the floor. One of them, a Koopa, saw him and shouted to the others. All of them turned to look. The wind blew in their faces, as the combatants stared at each other. The wooden floor creaked underneath them as the Koopa walked up to Toad.

"Well, well, well." The Koopa said. "Look who's back for another beat down."

"Yes." Toad agreed, "but this time I'll be doing the beating."

"Oh, will you now? You don't stand a chance! Look at all of us!" The Koopa gestured to the army behind him easily fifty or sixty.

"That doesn't matter. Strength doesn't come in numbers."

"Then how come we've beaten Mario and Luigi with this-" He was cut off by a Goomba interjecting.

"Stop bragging, that'll make it worse!"

"Shut it, Jeff!" The Koopa slapped him. Toad sneaked up behind a barrel, and the Koopa turned around, confused.

"Hey, where'd he go?"

"Don't look for him, Hal. He'll come to us." Jeff tried to explain, but Hal cut him off.

"I am trying to end this before it gets worse, okay? Just let me do this." Hal walked up to the barrel and peeked behind it. Nothing. In reality, Toad had hidden behind another barrel, but the Koopas didn't notice.

"Stop playing games with me and come out!" Hal shouted, as he kept looking. He neared the barrel that Toad was hiding behind. Suddenly, Toad shot out from behind the barrel, and tried to punch Hal. He retreated into his shell, but the blow's force still propelled him across the deck, knocking down baddies left and right. Toad watched in wonder as the shell knocked down twenty soldiers, thirty, forty, bouncing around the deck in quick succession. By the time the shell came back to Toad, only two or three stood. He jumped on top of the shell, bringing it to a dead stop. Hal came out of it, wincing in pain. Toad hung him over the edge of the deck.

"Not so much of a leader now, huh?" he said, and Hal whimpered in fear. Toad spared him, though, as he brought him back over the railing, and threw him onto the wooden floor. "You try to hurt me again, and I kill you. And your little friend too." Toad explained, pointing to Jeff. They both nodded their heads sporadically, not wanting to get destroyed. Toad walked away, found some stairs, and disappeared into the lower deck.

To be continued...


	14. Trapdoors

Chapter 14: Trapdoors

The lower deck was very dark, with no floor below it, as Toad traversed the spiral staircase downwards. During this time, he felt himself rise up into the air.

"They must have gotten it working again." He muttered to himself. "Better get us out of here before they get far..." He reached the bottom and felt around for any sort of light switch. No luck. He decided to just walk, prepared for anything that might come his way. Suddenly, the area lit up in a bright light that made Toad cringe and close his eyes. When the light was dim enough for him to see, there was Bowser Junior. He laughed childishly.

"You got lucky today, Toad. My dad isn't here. But I don't need him to finish you!" Junior charged. Toad dodged the kick by just inches.

"I have to say, you're better than your dad."

"Is that a good thing or a bad thing?"

"A good thing. Point being I actually have a good fight!" They engaged in a fistfight, dealing blow for blow. Toadette watched from the edge of the room, chained. Finally, Toad hit Junior in the face with a kick, and he fell down.

"You think that'll beat me? Try this!" Junior spun in his shell, and careened towards Toad. He stepped to the side, and the shell whizzed past him. Junior ricocheted off walls, causing Toad to have to dodge faster. Finally, he couldn't do it fast enough, as Junior slammed into him, causing Toad to slam into the wall. He stood.

"Not bad."

"Thank you."

"But can you deal with this?" Toad took out a Fire Flower from his vest pocket, and transformed into Fire Toad. Now he had a yellow cap with red spots. His vest was red too. He threw a fireball, and it hit Junior spot-on. Toad threw more, and racked up hits. Eventually, he spun around and threw a final one with so much force that Junior flew back and slammed into the control panel. It short-circuited, and the ship began to shake.

"Oh no..." they both said at the same time, knowing how bad the situation looked for both of them. Suddenly, a trapdoor opened up from under them. Junior opened up his parachute, and floated down.

Toad, however, didn't have any safety net to stop him from falling into the chasm below. The trees and grass rushed under him, in a green blur. The night sky never looked so dangerous. He frantically grappled with the slick wood, trying to find a handhold, but nothing turned up. Right when he thought there was no chance of survival, he spied the doorknob of the trapdoor rushing to his right side. He swung to grab it, but he missed, the tips of his fingers grazing the brass. Now he was already several centimeters below his target, and was milliseconds away from certain death. In a last-ditch effort, he reached up with his left hand. This time, he succeeded, as he grabbed the metal with his left hand, then pulled himself up and did the same with his right.

He then pondered how to get himself back onto the ship from this position, as the opening was several feet upwards. He had no handholds either, so he concluded that he had to jump and risk his life once more. His forearms were getting tired. It was now or never. He took one last look at the world below, then vaulted off his hands to leap up the three feet to the interior of the ship. His fingertips collided with the wood, and he grabbed the hinges. However, it wasn't secure enough. Seconds later, he cried out as his grip failed him. He began plummeting again to the earth below. He closed his eyes, sure that this was it.

Suddenly, a hand reached out from the opening and gripped his right forearm. Toad opened his eyes, in shock that he hadn't hit the ground yet. He felt the grip on his arm, and looked up to see who it belonged to. There was Toadette, smiling at him.

"You okay?" she asked. Toad couldn't help but smile back. She grabbed his other hand, and pulled him back up to the ship. They walked over to the control panel and steering.

"You know how to work this thing?" Toad asked, incredulous.

"Do you think a kart is any different?" she replied, pointing to the steering wheel, which strongly resembled the kart she had. She took the wheel and, in time, landed the airship in a field. They jumped from the deck onto solid ground. They turned around to the direction from where they came, and saw Junior about a quarter mile away. They walked over. Toadette looked at him, and saw that he had sustained a gunshot wound. The Toads gasped.

"How did that happen?" Toad asked.

"When I was parachuting down, those fools decided that it would be fun to shoot their own master." Junior replied, pointing to the airship. "They never listen to me... They think I'm just another Koopa who doesn't deserve a spot in the throne room... They think I'm a baby." Junior hung his head.

"Well, of all the things you are, you're certainly not a baby." Toad replied, surprised at himself that he was consoling a villain. However, he felt something different, a pang of guilt. "I mean, look at your skills. I pretty much was done for. I mean, you had the stinking parachute. I had to grab the doorknob and climb up." Junior was shocked.

"What? No! You can't be serious! You really did that? When you were, like, a mile up in the sky?"

"When I try to save my own life, I do crazy things. When I try to save hers..." Toad pointed to Toadette, "they get even crazier." Everyone laughed.

"Guys..." The Toads looked at Junior. "Since my dad isn't here, you know, I have to tell you guys something." The Toads nodded their heads, ready for it, whether it was a truth or lie.

To be continued...


	15. A New Ally

**Over 1,000 views in 14 chapters? Last time it took 18 chapters for me to get 500! The support for this series is insane! Thank you guys so much! :D Anyways, here's Chapter 15 after another long hiatus :(**

Chapter 15: A New Ally

As they walked to seek medical attention, Junior told them.

"It's about my dad." Junior began, while the Toads listened intently. "I don't think he's been himself lately. He's just so bent up on revenge and killing you guys that he just doesn't pay attention to me. I mean, he did that when we first tried, but now, he's just..." He trailed off.

"Here's what I mean. Whenever I try to contribute to his plans, or even disagree with him in the slightest, he just shoves me and blows me off like I'm the most insignificant person in the entire world, even though I'm his own son. Hell, the Koopalings get more attention than me!" The Toads stared. "Sorry, I've never used that kind of language in a sentence before." Junior apologized.

"No, no, it's not that." Toad reassured. "Keep going."

"What I'm saying is that I don't get more attention than I'm used to. They just don't care about me anymore. The minions, the Koopalings, all of them. They treat me like I'm nothing. My dad gets to face you one on one. What does he give me?" He threw his hands up in the air. "The stupid machines that don't do crap. I mean, he would be better off spending his money on more soldiers! Maybe then he would get what he wants! But _no, _all he does is do the same crappy plan over and over again instead of actually listening to me!" Junior exclaimed. He took a moment to calm down, then began again.

"And from the beginning I wondered what the people we target felt like inside, what my dad felt like inside when he ruined their lives beyond compare. And I have to admit... I feel sad for them. So I seriously wonder what it would be like to join forces with you guys, to see how much my dad would like it if I faced him. Because I really don't want to ruin anything more. My dad isn't himself. He's just turned into this sick murderer, and I don't wanna be with him anymore. And I'm pretty sure that he doesn't want anything to do with me either." Junior finished, and Toad looked on in wonder.

"You... you want to join us? And stop your dad from dominating the Mushroom Kingdom?"

"Yeah. I promise I won't hurt you guys. I'm not faking. So can I?" Junior asked. Toad hesitated a bit. He looked at Toadette, and she nodded.

"Of course." Junior's eyes widened.

"Really? You'd do that for me?"

"As long as you don't do anything to betray us." Toad confirmed.

"I promise I won't!" Junior hugged Toadette. "Thank you guys so much! I don't know how I can ever repay you!"

"No problem!" Toad smiled.

"By the way, the reason I said that is because when I said that my dad was insane to every other person, no one believed me. But it's true. One time Ludwig- you know Ludwig, right?"

"Yeah." Toadette replied. "The one with blue hair and..." She put on an accent. "Ze German accent?" Junior laughed.

"Yep. Anyway, he accidentally fired a cannon when he wasn't supposed to. So Bowser took him to his room and... he raped him." Toad gasped and stepped back.

"Oh, my gosh... Are you serious?"

"Serious."

"Wow... That guy's insane."

"I told you! He just brutally punished them for even the slightest misco-" He struggled to pronounce the word. "Misca- no... Sorry, it sounds like my brain can't handle these words." They all laughed.

"'Misconception'?" Toad corrected.

"Yeah. There was this other time where this one Koopa tried to step over a rope. You aren't allowed to do that."

"You aren't?" Toadette asked. "Why?"

"Well, it's for safety. The ropes might be connected to something, and you might trip on them. It's actually fairly understandable." Junior explained. "Anyway, he stepped over the rope. Didn't touch anything, right?"

"Right." the Toads agreed.

"Well, my dad saw it, and he takes him and throws him off the ship. Without a care in the world. Feels like he just threw away a piece of trash."

"Oh, wow..." Toadette sighed. "That's just wrong."

"See?" Junior affirmed. "He's crazy."

"I definitely wouldn't want a father like that." Toad agreed. "That's got to be a living hell." They reached the Mushroom Kingdom hospital and walked in, it's plain white walls surrounding them. As soon as Junior walked in, alarms went off, and guards ran over.

"You're not fooling anyone, Bowser Junior. You're under arrest." They ran towards him to seize the Koopa, but Toad stopped him.

"We have our reasons." The alarm was still blaring, as the guards looked at each other silently. Finally one spoke into a walkie talkie.

"Let him in." The alarm stopped. "Why is he here?"

"Because of this." Toadette showed the guard the wound on Junior's shoulder.

"Why are you helping him?" the guard demanded.

"It's a long story." Junior began, as they all walked to an ER to stabilize Junior and also to listen to the retelling of how it all happened.

To be continued...


	16. Limitations

Chapter 16: Limitations

After Bowser Junior told everyone the story, the guard that took him in stepped back in shock.

"No way... Is this really true?"

"Yes." Junior said. "Cross my shell and hope to die, poke a Spiny in my eye."

"We need to tell everyone about this..." The guard tried to run out of the room, but Toad stopped him.

"Later. Right now we need to figure out what to do."

"Well, I think the militia can handle this for now and report any major sightings." the guard assured. "Bowser isn't really much of a threat for now. If a sighting is reported, we'll notify you guys immediately. Right now, you guys can resume your daily lives, school, all that stuff."

"Are you sure?" Toadette asked.

"Yeah!" The guard reassured. "You guys have nothing to worry about."

"Thanks." Toad smiled. "We'll keep an eye on him every so often." Toad pointed to Junior.

"Thanks, Toad. I think I'll be fine." Junior mentioned. The Toads walked out of the room. The guards went back to their respective duties. Bowser Junior rolled over in his hospital bed and closed his eyes.

_Maybe the Mushroom Kingdom isn't such a bad place to live after all. _Junior thought pleasantly as he went to sleep.

The next morning, it was business as usual, as the Toads were back at the Mushroom Kingdom School District, this time at the Mushroom Kingdom Senior High School. Their freshman year was underway, and they wanted to make it a good year for them. They recieved their planners in home room, taught by none other than the old chap Toadsworth. He tapped his cane on the teacher's desk, and then had everyone's attention.

"Welcome to your freshman year of high school! Even though this is pretty much your second day, how was everyone's summer?" he asked.

"Good!" all the students replied in unison.

"Great!" Toadsworth smiled, obviously more cheerful than he normally was. "Now, to begin, I want all of you to look through these and learn all the rules in here." He tapped the planner on his desk with his cane, and everyone did as they were told, flipping to the back and looking through the rules of the school. A few minutes passed, until Toad stopped his flipping abruptly.

"What the- Toadette, come look at this." He motioned for her to come over, and she did, trotting over to him and taking a knee by his desk. "Look what this says." He pointed, and she read to herself.

"Let's see... 'Inappropriate or intimate behaviors of affection are not permitted on campus. Students should refrain from these behaviors during the school day or at any school sponsored activity. Anything more than handholding will not be tolerated.'" She pounded the open book with her fist, making everyone stare at her. She smiled sheepishly. "S-sorry..." Everyone went back to business, and she lowered her voice to a whisper. "That's stupid! We've been doing exactly that on campus for three years now, and we haven't gotten in trouble!"

"I know!" Toad whispered back. "Should we go to the principal?"

"We don't know him, Toad. He'll cream us." Toadette explained.

"Yeah we do. Principal O' Shawnessy traded places with the principal here. Didn't you see in the directory?" Toad asked.

"No, I didn't. Let me see yours." Toadette leafed through Toad's planner, looking for said directory. When she found it, there he was in the first line: Principal Derek Shawn. Toadette was confused. "Why is his last name different?"

"They wanted to make it more formal, probably." Toad explained.

"Makes sense." Toadette agreed. "Wanna go meet him after this?"

"Sure. We'll talk to him. For now we just wait..." Toad sighed as he learned back in his seat, waiting for Toadsworth to give him more instructions. At the end of the period, they rushed out and went up to the office.

"May we speak to the principal, please?" they asked the secretary, in unison. She nodded. The Toads walked down the hall, and slowly opened the door to the principal's office. Shawnessy turned towards them in his swivel chair.

"Why, if it isn't my star students!" he smiled. "What can I do for you two?"

"We would like to discuss a school rule." Toad explained, taking out the planner. "Where is it..." he grumbled, as he searched for the exact page. "There!" He pointed, and Shawnessy read the rule to himself.

"Ah, the affection rule. I thought that would strike a sour note with you two."

"Yeah. Our concern is that we've been breaking that rule for the past three years, and we haven't been in trouble for it once. Can you explain that?" Toad asked.

"Well, you guys are obviously allowed for this." Shawnessy clarified. "I mean, you're the heroes of the Mushroom Kingdom. It's the least I can do to allow you a rule break, especially one as... minor as that."

"Well, I don't think that's fair." Toad argued. "If the others see, they'll be mad. I think you should either not allow it for everyone or dismiss the rule entirely."

"You do have a point there too." Shawnessy agreed. After a moment of thinking, he looked at the planner again. "What page is it... Okay." The Toads looked at him, confused. Shawnessy opened the intercom.

"Hello, students! Welcome back to the Mushroom Senior High school! I am your principal, Mr. Shawn, and if you guys can excuse this interruption, I have an announcement to make." He waited a few seconds for everyone to take it in.

"Everyone turn to page 93 in your planner, please. Turn to page 93." He waited a few more seconds to give everyone time to do so.

"Now, point to the rule at the top of the page and read it to yourself." he clarified, since it was the rule in question, and waited once more.

"That rule that you just now read does not apply anymore. I repeat, the affection rule is hereby refuted. As long as you guys don't do anything crazy!" He chuckled and turned the intercom off, and looked at the two Toads. "Did I do good?" he asked them, chuckling.

"Oh, you did, Mr. Shawnessy. You did." Toad replied, smiling, and high-fived the principal.

To be continued...


	17. Dodgeball Antics

Chapter 17: Dodgeball Antics

**Should I make a Rated M chapter soon? Tell me what you guys think in the reviews!**

"You guys get dressed and you leave! Let's go!" Mr. Sacramento shouted in the locker rooms, as seventh period was already underway. "Sarasa, I really don't want you changing the signs again."

"But I didn't mean to do that!" Daisy protested as she walked out of the girl's locker room.

"That's what they all say." Mr. Sac sighed as he continued looking over the locker rooms. Toad and Toadette were already out of the lockers, talking on the blacktop. When everyone was out, Mr. Sac walked out to find everyone talking, unorganized.

"Why aren't you guys standing on your numbers? Let's go!" Everyone did, standing on the number that was painted for them on the blacktop. Toad and Toadette were numbers twenty-seven and twenty-eight, respectively.

"Who's absent today?" Mr. Sac asked himself as he scanned the columns, looking for a number without a student on it. He failed to find one. "Looks like everyone's here. Okay. Stand up, please!" Everyone did. He walked to the person who was standing on number one.

"If he wins, we go to the gym. If I win, we do a lap before we do." He played a game of rock-paper-scissors with the Blue Toad, which he lost. "Unbelievable!" he exclaimed, as the students cheered and ran to the gym. "I am on a losing streak today." he said to himself, chucking as he followed them. He entered the gym, and saw the students in roll call order, in a line.

"I like this." he said, as he walked to the middle. "Do this every time we walk in here, and you guys don't get yelled at." Everyone laughed.

"Anyway, we have dodgeball today." Everyone cheered as he held up a bag full of rubber balls. "Hey, hey. Let me set up the teams, at least! I don't wanna see you guys crowding me for the balls. That sounded stupid, didn't it?" he added, and everyone laughed again.

"Now, from here over..." He pointed to number twenty-six and moved his hand to the right. "You guys are a team. Everyone else is another team. Line up on opposite sides of the gym, and I will blow the whistle. Let's go!" The class did, dividing up and splitting on opposite sides. Toad and Toadette were on the same team, since they were right next to each other in number order. The whistle blew, and balls were immediately thrown, flying across the gym and hitting other students and walls. Mr. Sac propped his head on his elbow, watching the mess of balls all around the gym. Eventually, people started trickling out of the main cluster, signifying that they were hit and therefore out. After awhile, only three remained: Toad, Toadette, and a Blue Toad.

"Come on! Try and hit me!" The Blue Toad coaxed. Toad and Toadette kept throwing, but they missed. The Blue Toad hit Toadette, and she pouted.

"Well, it's all up to you!" she encouraged, as she waved at Toad and walked off towards the other people that were out.

Toad and the student continued exchanging balls, but they both missed. After a while of this, Toad had an idea. He threw the ball to his right and purposefully missed. Then he threw another one so that the Blue Toad was forced to move right to dodge it. The first ball came from behind and hit his foot.

"Oh, man!" the Blue Toad cursed, as the whistle blew.

"Steven, that's an out. New game, everyone!" Everyone cheered and rushed towards the arena once more, balls flying and laughter rippling through the gymnasium. Sacramento sighed, smiling as he propped his head on his arm, watching the chaos unfold.

To be continued...


	18. After-school Affection

**I have decided to not do the rated M chapter (which is a lemon, not a blood and gore deal) for now. Maybe I'll do it later in the book... I don't know. I'll think of it when the time comes. For now, just sit back and enjoy my alternative: cuteness! c:**

Chapter 18: After-school Affection (Hey, I couldn't think of anything else!)

_Beeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeep._

The final bell rang, lasting about five seconds in total. The two Toads rushed out of their classrooms, to their separate lockers, twisting the dial and opening them, unloading their books. They both closed the doors, twisted the dial again to make sure the locker was locked, then ran to the front of the camps to meet up. When they did, Toadette quite literally collapsed into Toad's arms. He looked at her, stunned.

"What happened?"

"Those books... they have me carry... aren't light..." Toadette explained through her heavy breathing.

"Hey, mine aren't either." Toad giggled. He took Toadette's backpack and slung it over his shoulder, along with his own. Then he picked her up bridal style and carried her off campus. She smiled up at him as they walked. He was wearing a jacket with blue and yellow mushrooms on it, due to the fact that it was already getting chilly out, despite it still being early September. The wind blew in Toadette's face, and she shivered.

"T-Toad... It's c-cold..."

"No worries, Toadette." Toad reassured. "Here." He set her down for a second, then took off his jacket and gave it to her. She stepped back in surprise, but then smiled sweetly as she took the jacket and put it over her red vest. Toad picked her up again and they continued walking back home. Every once in a while, they looked at each other, stopped, smiled, and kept walking. Over time, these occurrences became more and more prevalent. Finally, when they got to their house, they couldn't hold it in with just smiles anymore. They wrapped their arms around each other, Toadette still off the ground, holding each other in an embrace that just grew more and more affectionate as the seconds ticked by.

Toad pulled away a few minutes later, smiling at her. Toadette was hanging onto him with her legs and arms tightly wrapped around him, refusing to even let go as Toad walked into the house and put their backpacks away in the closet. When he did, Toadette finally gave out and let go of him, jumping to the ground.

"Finally couldn't hold on to me anymore, huh?" Toad asked, smiling.

"Yeah... I guess not." Toadette admitted, smiling back.

"But who says that's a bad thing... when I can hold on to you?" Toad giggled as he held Toadette's hand and walked to the couch. They sat down, sighing in relief and comfort. Then Toad turned to her, still smiling.

"You want me?" he asked seductively, shooting her a wink. Toadette blushed, but then her blush faded, and she smiled.

"How did you know?" she asked, winking back. Toad smiled at her sweetly, and moved a bit closer.

"How do you think? I think I'm the one that knows you better than anyone else..." he cooed, as he moved even closer, just inches from her now. She smiled and their eyes locked onto each other.

"I know you want me too... Your eyes say it all." Toadette winked again, causing Toad to slowly blush.

"Well, it's for a good reason. You're just too beautiful to not be wanted."

"Aww, Toadie..." Toadette cooed, devising a nickname for him on the spot. She got closer, so only a sliver of space was between them and their passionate kiss. Toad leaned over her, and Toadette leaned back, so her head was on the armrest of the couch. Toad kept his closeness to her as he did so. Her eyes twinkled.

"Toadette..." Toad cooed happily.

"Toad..." Toadette cooed with the same happiness, and despite her being on the bottom, she was the one that pulled Toad in those last few inches, beginning their magical kiss. Minutes passed, the Toads ecstatic as they cooed in pleasure and shifted around to find the position that they wanted. Eventually, they did, and their coos slowly became louder with bliss, both of them pulling each other in deeper. Finally, after about three minutes, they were forced to pull away, breathing deeply and getting their much needed oxygen.

"Toadette..." Toad cooed, with more happiness than before, as he went in again, kissing her again with even more passion. Toadette wasted no time in wrapping her arms around him, holding him closer and closer and making their kiss even more passionate. Three more loving minutes passed before they pulled away a second time. Toad's fingers laced through her hair.

"You're so soft and warm... I want you, Toadette..." Toad admitted, blushing pink. She smiled softly and stood up from the couch, her eyes on his.

"Why don't we take this... somewhere else?" She winked, which caused Toad to blush deeper.

"Toadette... I don't think we'll do it hard and fast tonight... At least for now." Toad explained. "You know what that expression means, right?"

"Yeah. I know. I wasn't thinking we would 'do it' with each other either... Just enough to make us feel good, y'know?" She winked.

"That sounds perfect." Toad smiled as he led Toadette up the stairs to their room. They walked inside and sat on their bed.

"You ready?" Toad asked, moving closer, his lips inches from hers.

"I'll always be ready for you... Toadie..." Toadette cooed in ecstasy as she kissed him lightly, then a bit deeper and deeper until the passion was greater than the kisses downstairs. Toad's coos became a bit louder, as his fingers laced through her hair as he kissed her passionately. Toadette's hands went down to his waist, gripping his vest lightly.

"You want me to?" she asked, a bit seductive in the way she did. Toad blushed a bit, but then it faded as he winked.

"Go on... Take it off." Toadette obliged, clutching his vest tighter and slowly guiding it off one arm, then the other. Toad could feel the fabric being pulled away, and felt like a weight was lifted. Toadette marveled at his bare chest, his abdominal muscles showing probably because of all the adventures they had.

"You like what you see?" Toad smiled and winked, causing Toadette to blush.

"Y-yes, I do." Toadette managed to reply.

"Good. Now, time for me to return the favor..." Toad's left hand reached down and tugged at her vest playfully. Toadette smiled, blushing a light pink, and nodded. Toad guided her pink vest off her arms. Under that, she was wearing some pink lingerie; nothing special, no frilliness around the edges even, as Toad had expected.

"You like what _you_ see?" Toadette asked, mimicking Toad in the way she said it. Toad giggled.

"Yeah. But one question."

"Shoot."

"Why so... simple?"

"Well, I have the real deal saved for... the occasion." Toadette winked as she knew just what the 'occasion' meant. Toad knew that too, as he smiled at her.

"That sounds like a good reason to me." he smiled, and reached for her again, but the LCD lighting of their alarm clock, glaring the whole time, finally succeeded in prying his eyes away. He stood up, shocked.

"It's already seven? Wow! Time flies when you're... kissing someone, I guess." Toad blushed, knowing that saying 'having fun' and finishing the original phrase would sound like something he was saving for later. "I'll go make dinner." He stood, not even stopping to put his vest back on.

"No, no, Toadie." Toadette stopped him, not putting hers on either. "I already have the pasta in the fridge. All you gotta do is microwave it."

"Thanks." Toad smiled, gave her a kiss on the forehead, and went downstairs. Toadette smiled, following him a minute later, as she heard the whirring of the microwave drone throughout the house.

To be continued...


	19. Dinner and a Show

Chapter 19: Dinner and a Show

The microwave beeped to signal that it was done cooking the pasta. Toad walked over, opened the microwave door, and tried to take the glass bowl out of the microwave.

"Ouch! Hot, hot!" He instantly let go, making the bowl wobble at the sudden movement. He went to go grab some oven mitts. Toadette giggled at his antics. Toad walked back over and tried again, and this time he took it out and walked it over to the table. He got a serving spoon from a drawer and some plates and forks. He spooned the pasta onto the plates and served them.

"Here you go, milady." He said formally, finally putting his vest back on. Toadette giggled as she put hers on too.

"Thank you, kind prince." She replied, playing along, and dug in. Toad did too.

"You're always a good cook." He complimented as he dug in for more. "This stuff is amazing… just like you." Toadette blushed a bit as she kept eating.

"Why, thank you." She replied, filtered through a mouthful of pasta. They both giggled at how funny she sounded. They cleared their plates and put them in the sink.

"So… what do you wanna do now?" Toadette asked.

"Well… I don't know…" Toad contemplated.

"We can always finish what we started." Toadette winked.

"Well, I think that can be saved for a later time…" Toad blushed a bit, but then an idea came. "How about we watch a movie?"

"That sounds great!" Toadette agreed. She walked to the cupboard to fetch the microwaveable popcorn, while Toad went to get the movie. The microwave's drone resumed. Toadette walked back to the couch to find Toad putting in a movie. She looked at the title, depicting a house with two old men inside.

"'The Men and the Boys'? That's a weird title." Toadette observed.

"I purposefully picked it because I had no idea what it was." Toad added.

"Why?" Toadette asked, confused.

"Well, the idea is we mute the entire film and then, whenever a person speaks, we make up the dialogue." Toad explained. Toadette giggled.

"I can already tell where this is headed." She giggled some more as the movie started, its music filling the room. Toad walked up to the TV set, pressed the 'Mute' button making the music stop abruptly, and sat back down. One old man started by looking out a window, sighing and watching children play outside.

"Those children and their new-fangled wall ball and four square." Toad imitated, putting on his best elder's voice. "Back in my day, we didn't have time for those things. Why, the real entertainment was that ol' Super Nintendo Entertainment System." He started giggling in his normal voice while talking. Toadette was giggling too. "Ah, those were the good old days, when I just sat in my wee old closet upstairs, playing a round of that brand-spanking new Super Mario Kart. Now they think that the time is better spent outside, mindlessly looking at the sun and claiming it 'gives you energy'- Bah, they wish!" Their giggles became a bit more prevalent. In reality, the man was complimenting the children going outside and saying it was exactly what he did in his time. The movie continued with the man walking over to the television and unplugging the Nintendo 64 attached to it.

"Now how do you work this thing again?" Toad continued imitating, as if the man was trying to turn the system on. Suddenly, an old woman walked in, with Toadette creating the dialogue for her.

"Harold! What in tarnation are you doing?" She put on an elder's accent as well.

"What am I doing, Amy? I'm turning on the new-fangled N64."

"Shouldn't you be doing other things instead of those brainwashed video games?" In reality, they were arguing about whether or not the man would unplug the console.

"This is what I grew up with in my day, Amy. People like you who sew, wash, knit, and all that boring stuff wouldn't understand."

"Why, you-" Just then, the children, no older than seven years old, walked in. Then, as if on cue, the microwave beeped once again to signal that it was done. The smell of fresh popcorn filled the house. Toad paused the movie and went to get the popcorn. When he did, he poured it into a bowl and set it between him and Toadette on the couch. He resumed the movie, eating a kernel of popcorn before he did so.

"Daddy, what are you doing?" Toad played the role of the boy as well, making a toddler's impression; his voice was high and childish.

"I'm playing the N64, son." Toad played double duty with the roles.

"Can we play?" Toadette, playing as the little girl, asked.

"Kids, you know that this is my system." In reality, the kids wanted to play the console, but the man wouldn't let them because he thought the N64 and video games in general were childish.

"Yeah, but we wanna play!" Toad said in his toddler voice. In the movie, the boy started to tug on the console.

"You kids, stop it! I wanna play too!" Toadette cried, playing as the woman.

"No, the system is mine and you guys aren't touching it!" Toad played as the man through a fitful of giggles.

"It's min-" Toadette stopped the girl's dialogue in mid sentence, as the N64's cables frayed and broke because of the pulling.

"Look what you did!" Toadette continued.

"No, you did it!" Toad giggled, as the boy shouted on the screen.

"You new-fangled kids always ruin my stuff!"

"Ah... I knew this wasn't a good idea..." The woman walked upstairs, and Toad paused the movie, through a fit of laughter.

"That was priceless!" he uttered through his giggles.

"It sure was!" Toadette agreed, through her giggles as well. "You really know how to make me laugh!" Toad turned off the TV, still giggling.

"It's still only seven-thirty..." he observed, looking at the analog clock on the wall, shaped like a Super Mushroom. "What are we gonna do now?"

"Umm..." Toadette mused. "How about some board games?" When Toad nodded, she ran down to the basement Toad following her. "I got tons!" she shouted up, as she showed him a closet filled with board games they knew. 'Operation', 'Trouble', 'Chutes and Ladders'.

"These are all kids games..." Toad recognized.

"I know. I have something else in mind..." Toadette winked, as she pulled out the notorious 'Monopoly'.

"Oh, no..." Toad giggled, slapping his palm to his face as he knew where this was headed.

To be continued...


	20. Mushroom Monopoly

Chapter 20: Monopoly Madness

After ninety minutes of the Toads playing as entrepreneurs, Toad whooped in triumph.

"Those are my three houses, and you owe me..." He skimmed the title deed of Boardwalk. "Fourteen hundred." he finished, his shorthand for the number 1,400.

"Are you serious?" Toadette exclaimed. "Give me that!" She reached across the table, snatched the card out of Toad's hand, and read it herself. Then she slapped it on the table and sighed. Indeed, the 'For 3 houses' line read 1,400 Coins. "Okay..." She started counting up, counting the paper coins she did have in descending denominations.

"Five hundred, a thousand, one hundred, two, three, twenty, forty, sixty, eighty, five, six, seven..." I'm short by _thirteen coins_? Are you kidding?" She sighed and withdrew from the table. "And if I mortgage something, I'm dead anyways... Cause look at all your houses on the light blues and pinks..." She motioned to a corner of the board, with the light blue and pink properties' color set. They were littered with green houses, two on some, three on others, four on one particular property, Oriental Avenue.

"Well, it can't hurt to try, right?" Toad coaxed.

"Yeah, I guess." Toadette weakly mortgaged Ventnor Avenue, collecting 120 Coins to bring her balance to one hundred and seven. "Toad, your turn." She passed him the dice. Toad's icon, the thimble, was on Pacific Avenue at that moment, close to Toadette's, the ship, on Boardwalk. Toad rolled one die, then the other. He looked, and the dice produced a one and a five, respectively.

"Six." he concluded. "One, two, three, four, five, six." His icon stopped on Park Place, with a red hotel on it instead of the normal houses.

"That's mine!" Toadette piped up.

"Really?" Toad exclaimed.

"Yep! You owe me fifteen hundred. Payback!" Toadette pumped her fist, while Toad sighed and paid up. The Toads heard dull _bongs _throughout the room. They looked out the window, and saw the clock in the main square, tolling off the hours. Nine tolls passed before it went silent, the last toll ringing in their ears for about ten seconds.

"It's nine already?" Toad asked, incredulous. "Wow! Time flies."

"Yeah... Why don't we end it off here and figure out who won?" Toadette asked.

"Sounds good." Toad agreed. "So we sell all our houses and hotels, and mortgage all our properties. Then we just count it up and whoever has more wins."

"Yeah. Go!" The Toads began the process, taking about three minutes to sell. Then Toad began counting.

"One thousand, two, three, four..." Toadette did too. After about a minute, Toad stepped away.

"Done."

"Don't talk." Toadette snapped. "You're messing me up."

"Sorry..." Toad apologized, then kept his mouth shut as Toadette finished counting.

"I got seven thousand, two hundred something. Doesn't matter anyways. What do you have?" Toad threw his paper coins on the table in defeat.

"I have five thousand, so looks like you win."

"Yeah! I win, I win!" Toadette danced around the table. "I'm the best!"

"Hey, that's my line!" Toad giggled.

"Not anymore, Toad! Not anymore!" Toadette was giggling as she danced around still. Toad began to pick up the game pieces as Toadette still celebrated. When she finally calmed down, Toad had the game in its box and ready to be put away.

"So what do you wanna do now?"

"It's getting late..." Toadette observed, looking at the clock, which now read 9:07 P.M, or at least, what she estimated it to be. "Why don't we head off to bed?"

"Yeah, it is getting pretty late..." Toad then stood up, excited. "Come with me!" He ran out the door hurriedly.

"What? What is it?" Toadette asked, confused, following him first at a walk, then a run. "Where are we going?"

"You'll see!" Toad shouted back. "You'll love it! But we have to hurry! Come on!" Toadette did, following him into the starry horizon.

To be continued...


	21. Streaks of White

**More cuteness coming. Anyone have a problem with that? *crickets chirp* Okay then. On with the show!**

Chapter 21: Streaks of White

Toad gleefully ran through the city sidewalks, the building lights and lampposts dimly illuminating the way with white light. Toadette ran behind him, hot on his heels.

"I still have no clue as to where we're going." she called.

"Just trust me on this! But we have to hurry. It's almost time!" Toad giggled as he turned a corner, with Toadette following so fast that she almost tripped over herself.

"Time for what?" Toadette asked.

"You'll see!" Toad giggled as they reached their destination, out of breath. Toad checked his watch.

"Good. We still have time." Toadette was still confused as she walked with Toad up a spiral staircase around a large steel tower. As they got closer to the top, their footsteps echoing as they hit the metallic staircase, she squinted and noticed some telescopes peeking out the sides of the building. When they got to the apex, Toad spotted a picnic blanket that someone had left. He took it and laid it flat on the concrete floor, with just enough room for two.

"Just lie down..." He did, laying down on the striped blanket. "...and look up." Toadette laid down next to him, and they both looked up in unison.

"Whoa..." Toadette breathed in awe as the stars glimmered amongst the black sky.

"I took you here cause there's expected to be a meteor shower tonight." Toad admitted. "I didn't want us to miss out on this... rare sight." Toadette said nothing as she continued looking up at the stars. She looked down again for a moment, and almost as soon as she did, she felt Toad's fingers lace with hers.

"It's time." Toad announced. "Look to your right in three... two... one..." Toadette did as told, and her eyes widened.

"Wow..." She marveled a second time as shooting stars flew across the glittering celestial canopy, blinking in and out of existence. Below them, the city lights twinkled, white, gold and red dotting the streets below. "This is amazing..."

"Not as amazing as you." Toad followed, which made Toadette look back at him for a moment, smile sweetly, and turn back.

"You always know just what to say when I'm around." she complimented, still facing the other way. "I like that about you."

"Hey, the same goes for you, too." Toad giggled and squeezed Toadette's hand softly. She squeezed it back and smiled. They sat down on the blanket for awhile, sometimes squeezing each other's hand or looking back and smiling at each other. After awhile, they looked back one last time, put the picnic blanket neatly where they found it, and started to walk down the staircase, beaming.

"Wasn't that fun?" Toad asked her as they walked down, the stars still shining overhead.

"Yeah... But I know a thing that would make it even better." They were at the bottom of the stairs now, back on the sidewalk.

"And what would that be?" Toad asked her, moving closer, smiling as he already knew just what the answer was. Toadette took Toad's right hand with her left, her other one reaching up behind his neck. She smiled and pulled him closer, her eyes saying it all as they sparkled like the stars themselves. Toad desperately wanted to do what she was planning right then and there, but he decided to wait and let her have the first move for a change.

"I think you already know..." she cooed, looking into his eyes. They moved closer, ever closer.

"Well, what are you waiting for, then?" Toad asked, winking.

"Told you you'd know." Toadette winked. She pulled him even closer, so close that their small noses touched.

"Toadette... I love you." Toad finally said, as he gazed into her eyes.

"I love you too, Toadie." Toadette cooed, then finally closed the gap, her lips softly locking with his. Unbeknownst to them, the shooting stars still went on, illuminating the sky behind them. Toad went just a little deeper into the kiss, making Toadette coo with bliss and kiss him back softly. She eventually picked her right foot up behind her, leaning forward to kiss him a little deeper. Toad giggled, kissing her back, and lifted her up off the ground. He broke the kiss just for a little, as he took her hands and used his strength to spin them around. Toadette's feet flailed on the outside.

"Wweeeeeeee!" Toadette giggled as she was spun, smiling down at him. The scenery blurred in their eyes due to the centripetal force. Toad smiled up at her and giggled warmly. He put her back on the ground. Toadette stumbled a little and he giggled again.

"You dizzy?" Toad giggled.

"Yeah. A little." Toadette replied, chuckling as she regained stability. "But that doesn't mean I didn't have fun with that..."

"Same goes for me too." Toad chuckled as he took her hand. Toadette smiled and squeezed his hand, lacing her fingers with his. They kissed each other on the lips another time, short but sweet, then walked off into the city streets, back to their house again. They couldn't stop looking at each other, which in one instance almost caused them to trip over an elevated sidewalk piece. They got back to their house, opened up the door, and turned off the alarm.

"Ahh..." they sighed in warmth, as they were pretty cold now that the warmth of their affection had worn off somewhat. Toad looked at the thermometer they had plastered recently on the window to gauge the outside temperature. Fifty-four degrees.

"Is it really that cold out?" he asked, tilting his head questioningly. "I wasn't wearing a jacket or anything, and I wasn't cold out there at all..."

"I think I know the reason why." Toadette giggled. Toad took a moment, but then smiled.

"Yeah. Let's just leave it at that." He took her hand again, and they both walked up to their bedroom. Toad turned on the television, while Toadette went in the bathroom to take a shower. Around ten minutes later, after she had finished her nightly routine, she came out wearing soft pink pajamas and motioned for Toad to start his duties. Toad nodded, and they switched places. After that was done, he came out wearing blue footie pajamas and smiled internally at their resemblance to Toadette's. They both yawned and sprawled on the bed. Toad propped his head on a pillow, while Toadette put hers on his shoulder.

Thy watched a romantic comedy on the television for about a half hour longer, giggling occasionally at the characters' antics. After it was over, Toad turned off the television with the flower-shaped remote and placed it on the nightstand. He went under the covers, and Toadette soon followed. Their cheeks grazed in the process, and it didn't take long for them to start cuddling. They held each other sweetly in their arms, emitting soft giggles every now and again. Their feet laced with each other too.

"Hey, Toad?" Toadette said his name to get his attention.

"Yeah?" Toad followed.

"I just wanna say... Thank you for what you did out there for me." Toadette gestured to the window, referring to what happened at the observatory. "I don't remember another time where I had that much fun just sitting there and looking at the stars... I used to go on campfire trips, you know, but..." She trailed off, then started again. "When everyone went out stargazing like we just did, I would just stay behind cause everyone else had someone to share the moment with, and I... well, I didn't." Toad put a hand on her shoulder, feeling their closeness.

"I can relate to that... That used to happen to me too. I saw people just holding hands or hugging in the school hallways, and I was always jealous that they had someone to love and I didn't." He looked up at her. "But now... now I have you. And you have me. I can never thank you enough for that."

"Aww, Toad..." Toadette smiled and kissed him lightly on the cheek. "Really, thank you... This is why I love you." They took one another's hands and looked out their window at the twinkling pinholes of light that were the stars.

"This is why I love you too..." Toad smiled and kissed her on her cheek. "It would be a crime not to." She giggled in response and wrapped her hands around him. Soon they were cuddling again, and this time, the warmth was lulling them to sleep. Toadette yawned, and they both giggled.

"Guess we'd better..." Toadette began, but yawned mid-sentence, causing them to giggle again.

"We'd better get to bed, huh?" Toad finished, in a drowsy voice himself. Toadette nodding her head was the only response. They cuddled into each other and closed their eyes.

"Goodnight, Toadette." Toad drowsily murmured, his head on her chest.

"Goodnight, Toadie." Toadette smiled and laid her head on his chest as well, before they both slipped away into dreamland.

To be continued...


	22. Shelter Skelter

**Long chapter coming up!**

Chapter 22: Shelter Skelter

"Ahh... Oh, Toadette, that feels good..."

"Want me to go faster?"

"Yes, please..."

Those were the sounds of Toadette giving Toad an early morning foot massage. His feet had been sitting in the same tiny shoes for quite some time now. Sure, he'd taken them off in the house, but that didn't do anything to make his feet better. So he asked Toadette about it and she gladly obliged.

"Does it feel better? I know you've been cramped for a while now..."

"Yes, Toadette, it feels so much better... Thank you... Ahhhhh..." Toad sighed in comfort as Toadette kept on rolling her hands on his feet. After awhile, they stopped, smiled, got out of bed reluctantly, and performed their usual morning duties. Then, after they had armed their house, they went on their racing bikes and sped towards Peach's Castle to get breakfast. During their drive, though, Toad stopped. Toadette followed and looked at him.

"Something wrong?" she asked, but Toad didn't listen, as he put a hand up to his ear. After around fifteen seconds, he put it down again.

"Nothing. I just thought I... heard something."

"What did you hear?" Toadette followed up, tilting her head.

"Something whirring, I don't know... It's probably nothing. Now come on! Our breakfast's gonna get cold." Toad giggled and hopped back on his bike. Toadette hopped on hers too, and they resumed their journey. They arrived at the castle, parked their bikes in the lot, and walked up to the intercom.

"Who is it?" Peach asked over the speaker.

"Toad and Toadette." the two Toads said in unison.

"Come right in! Your breakfast and everyone else's is waiting!" Peach pressed a button to open the doors. They walked in and found servants crowding the cafeteria tables, holding pancakes, hash browns, waffle irons, and the like. Toadette ran in to get some food, and Toad giggled at her hasty antics. He sat down at a table to wait for her over the bustle.

Then he heard a noise; the same noise that he heard while coming here. He heard it getting closer, becoming more pronounced over time. Then his mind clicked. He knew that sound.

"Guys!" He tried to shout over the servants, tried to warn them from the doom that was coming. "It's an airship! Run!" However, barely anyone heard him over the racket. Those that did, though, ran for the stairs. Gradually, more people began to follow, but still half the people weren't noticing, Toadette included.

Those precious seconds proved critical, for just moments later, an ear-piercing Klaxon screamed over the entire castle. Immediately, people began to clamber for the stairs. The sound, indeed the rotors of an airship, got louder. A pre-recorded message rang out.

_This is an air raid emergency lockdown. This is not a drill. All castle personnel must report to the emergency stairwell and descend to level B10. Last doors will close in three minutes._

Toad tried to search for Toadette, but it was no use over the rush of bodies passing between them. Reluctantly, he dashed for the stairs, knowing that he left his love behind. The message played, over and over again. The last part was the only one that changed:

_Last doors will close in two minutes and thirty seconds._

Toad waded his way through the mass of Toad servants crowding the single metal staircase. Due to the influx, travel had slowed to only slightly faster than a walk. The colors of the dots on their caps was all anyone could see, they were that closely packed together. Red, blue, green, yellow.

_Last doors will close in one minute and forty-five seconds._

As he proceeded underground to the air raid shelter, Toad looked for a pink cap over all the white ones. He failed to find one, and began to grow worried. The seemingly endless staircase continued to wind downward. The patter of the servants' feet filled the dim corridor.

_Last doors will close in sixty seconds._

The crowds began to thin out. People were reaching the shelter, and Toad knew that he was getting close as well. However, he still didn't see Toadette, which worried him further, as seconds were ticking away. The doors were closing. They were impossibly slow in doing so, but they were closing.

_Last doors will close in thirty seconds._

Toad finally reached the shelter, level B10, and went inside. It consisted of thick concrete and steel walls, and was sectioned off into cubicles. Each cubicle had a blanket, a pillow, and minimal rations consisting of biscuits and water. Toads were already filling them up. Small tremors lightly shook the ground, and Toad knew that they were under attack. He ducked inside a cubicle in the front row, and looked out at the steadily thinning gap between the closing steel doors, watching, waiting.

_Last doors will close in fifteen seconds._

With every second that passed, Toad began to give up hope. He still saw nothing emerging from the shadows, as the clock winded down.

_Last doors will close in ten seconds... nine... eight... seven..._

Toad was just about to bury his head in despair and hopelessness, when he heard something over the alarm and the countdown. It was faint, but he could hear it.

"Toad!"

_Six... five..._

He could hear it. Toadette was calling to him. Instantaneously, he jumped from his cubicle and ran to the entrance of the closing doors. He saw Toadette's pigtails dangling outside the rails of the staircase, and heard the patter of her feet rushing.

"Come on!" he called. "You can do it!"

_Four... _

Toad could only watch her running to him, getting closer, rushing to beat the clock.

_Three..._

Closer and closer she came.

"Go, go!" Toad shouted, thinking about the outcomes that could possibly unfold.

_Two..._

Toad held out his hand.

_One..._

Toadette jumped for it. It was like time was in slow motion. However, she was too late. Toad was forced to pull his hand back for fear of it getting crushed between the doors, which locked shut with a metallic clang, Toadette still on the other side. The ground was still shaking. The message rang out through the entire shelter.

_Last doors are now sealed._

To be continued...


	23. Refugees

Chapter 23: Refugees

Toad was incredibly close to breaking down in tears when the doors closed, but he resisted, pacing the floor in thought. _I have to find a way to open those doors... _He looked around for a switch, but turned up with nothing.

"Toadette!" He tried to call through the doors, his words echoing off the walls of the shelter, but the door was too thick for Toadette to hear. Toad servants turned to look at what was happening. A few minutes passed, Toad pacing the floor more and more frantically. Then he grazed a guard's elbow, and turned to look.

"Oh, sorry." Toad apologized.

"No problem, kid." The guard forgave Toad, and began to walk away, when the latter spoke up again.

"Sir, do you have any idea how to open those doors?"

"Well, kid, I do. I have the key for them. But why in the heck would you want to? We're under attack."

"Sir, my wife is trapped on the other side of those doors, and I have no way to save her except this."

"I see..." The guard, wearing black and a little taller, scrutinized Toad carefully. "How do I know you're telling the truth, kid?"

"Didn't you see her? She was running here just thirty seconds ago. The doors closed before she got here, and she's stuck on the other side."

"Well, kid, I can't open 'em. Kingdom's policy. You can't open a door to a shelter until the all clear is given."

"But-" Toad tried to interject, but the guard cut him off.

"Sorry, kid. Rules are rules."

"Can't you just make an exception?" Toad asked, getting a bit tense.

"No, I can't."

"Why can't you?" Toad asked, the inevitable question. The guard sighed.

"It's rules, kid. You can't break 'em. If I open those doors, I'll lose my job quicker than a Chargin' Chuck."

"How are you gonna lose your job over opening a door?" Toad followed up, tension in his voice.

"Kid, it'll endanger everyone in here."

"How so?"

"We're getting bombed. The dust from the bombs might get in here. We only have a limited amount of breathing room, figuratively and literally." the guard explained. "It'll take up the oxygen and possibly endanger the lives of everyone in here-"

"'Possibly endanger the lives of everyone in here-'" Toad mocked. "You're endangering a life _right now_!" he retorted, outraged.

"Well, I'm gonna endanger a thousand lives, including ours, if I open those doors." the guard replied, collected. "I'm sorry about your lady, kid, but I'm not opening them."

"Just for five seconds! How is that-" Toad began, but the guard put a hand over his mouth to shut him up. Toad began to walk away, but then a voice spoke up.

"Open the doors!"

Toad turned to the cubicles, shocked. Then another voice:

"Yeah! Open the doors!" Then another:

"You can't just let an innocent little girl die!"

"It's not like you're gonna kill us if you open them for a few seconds! Cut him some slack, man!" Everyone started shouting at once. The guard looked shocked, as he stepped back.

"Okay, okay, kids, settle down." After a while, the Toads went silent, waiting to hear the guard's next statement. "I'll open the doors for ya." Everyone cheered as the guard went to the control lever and pulled it down with a grunt. The doors didn't budge.

"Sometimes it takes awhile." he explained. As if on cue, the doors slowly opened, metal creaking across the concrete floor. Toad saw nothing but darkness at first.

"Hey! I thought your girl was behind here! Don't lie to me, kid!" The guard asserted angrily.

"I'm not lying! She was just here-" Toad stopped when he heard the patter of feet.

"Toadette? Is that you?" he called out into the darkness. No answer, except for the pattering getting closer and closer. Unexpectedly, a figure swiftly leapt out of the obscurity, so fast that Toad didn't have any time to react. The shadow tackled him to the ground. Everyone gasped, shocked at both the sudden action and who it could be. Then Toad's lips slowly curled up into a smile when he realized who it was. The doors closed again, the little light they had reflecting off the steel, allowing the servants to see. Then they started cheering and clapping. The two were so closely bound together that it looked like there was only a tangled bundle of white and pink, but the townspeople knew very well who had barged in; Toadette, joyful that she was still alive and reunited.

"Toad, you'll never believe what just-"

"Shhhh..." Toad shushed her by lightly touching two of his fingers to her lips. "Just let it happen..." he whispered in her ear, and Toadette did, smiling at him and slowly locking her soft lips with his. They shifted around during the kiss, every shift bumping up the passion. Toad's hands roamed the back of her pink shirt; he was enjoying every second of this. After about a minute, they pulled away. The servants retreated to their cubicles. Toad and Toadette, however, decided to share a cubicle, taking the rations from an adjacent one and stowing them in theirs.

"Now you can tell me. What did you see?" Toad asked, quietly.

"See for yourself." Toadette took out her mobile phone, pink of course, and pulled up a picture. It was of Toad Town, but rather than being the cheerful place it once was, most of it was just concrete rubble, the houses decimated. Only a few still stood amid the devastation. Docks were reduced to just a few strips of charred wood floating in the water. Warp pipes were bent up and evidently unusable.

"Oh, damn..." Toad cursed, not even bothering to stop himself. He was just too shocked. "Where's our house?"

"That's the scary part. Look!" Toadette pointed to the edge of the photo, where their house was just faintly visible. It was still standing. However, it was all alone, in the middle of a concrete sea.

"How is that scary?" Toad asked, confused.

"Look..." Toadette pulled up another photo. It was a close-up of their house. Something was written on the door, however. The writing was red and dripping on the bottom.

"Holy crap... They wrote this in blood." Toad put the pieces together, struggling to even read the message. He was shaking as he read it to himself.

"Your time is up. You will be left with nothing." Toad read. "Who wrote this?"

"Bowser." Toadette solemnly answered. "I caught him writing the period at the end. Then he saw me, and I had to dash back here. The bombs are still dropping, and I heard they're planning to use the rest here."

"Well, he's using bombs on the only place that has a bomb shelter in the entire city. The kingdom's population is all in here. So that's not evil; that's just stupid." Toad reasoned with a chuckle. "But you're right; he's out for us. And we have to stop him from destroying everything else in the process. He wants a fight. He wouldn't leave our house standing for nothing..."

"Yeah." Toadette agreed. She turned the phone off, its light fading, the shelter's only light now from lanterns shone by guards. A tremor shook the shelter, concrete dust falling down, inciting cries of surprise and fear from the servants. The two Toads stayed calm.

"All we can do is wait..." Toad sighed as he laid down on his sleeping bag with Toadette next to him. The day passed without any more major incidents, tremors shaking the shelter every once in awhile and the cries repeating every time they did so. But the refugees in the shelter, the entire kingdom's population, felt like the day was passing slow as a snail. Even the Princess was there, surrounded by her Toad servants, in a corner.

Before everyone knew it, it was night, mainly because the shelter grew dark. The guards were seeing what was happening up above through security cameras, though some were being destroyed by the bombs. Also circadian rhythm was kicking in. The light lanterns started turning off. Soon only Toad's and Toadette's lights were on, the other servants fast asleep.

"You still awake?" Toad whispered to Toadette.

"Yeah." Toadette whispered back, smiling a little as she climbed into the sleeping bag with Toad. "What's up?"

"I just want you to know... I don't know who they're coming after. Maybe the Princess, maybe you, me, the Mario brothers, or someone else... but I want you to know that I will always be here and I will always be by your side. Never forget that. Okay?" Toad asked, smiling at her. Toadette nodded and snuggled into his neck, closing her eyes in bliss.

"Okay. I'm with you. We'll take him down. Together."

"That's right." Toad assured, smiling as he snuggled into his lover's chest, closing his eyes. "I love you..." was the last thing he said before drifting off, to no response; Toadette had already joined him in her peaceful dreamland.

To be continued...


	24. All Clear

**So sorry for the huge hiatuses. Hopefully I can make up for them soon!**

**And can you guys review if you have anything to say about my story? Feedback is always greatly appreciated! My main reviewer, ed-boi, has his account dead, so I'm relying on the rest of you guys to tell me what I should improve on and what I should keep the way it is! Read, review, and as always, enjoy!**

Chapter 24: All Clear

Toad woke to darkness. He rubbed his eyes, yawning and looked around, taking in what little scenery he could see. Then he felt an absence. He felt around him, feeling for Toadette, who was right beside him and cuddling with him when they drifted off. Nothing.

"What?" He sat up, astonished that she wasn't there. He frantically put his arm out, fiddling around in the blackness for his lantern. Finally he found it, grabbed its handle, yanked it towards him, and switched it on. He cringed and looked away at the sudden brightness that filled his immediate surroundings. Once his body got used to it, he started to look around, standing up and hearing the sleeping bag slump to the floor.

"Is a-anyone here?" he asked, shakiness in his voice now. He looked in the cubicles immediately adjacent to his. No one was there; only the sleeping bag provided and half-eaten rations of bread. He ran to the door. A guard was there, the same guard who had let Toadette in the day before.

"Where is everyone?" Toad asked, worry in his eyes. The guard laughed.

"Didn't you hear, kid? The all clear just went off a few minutes ago. I don't know _how_ you slept through all that racket." he chuckled.

Toad sighed in relief and ran through the now open doors and up the dim metal stairwell. After a while, he saw the door at the top and pushed it open. Light flooded his eyes, and he had to squint a bit, but he felt relieved that the natural light could finally illuminate his surroundings instead of his artificial lantern, which he turned off and placed beside him now that it was unnecessary. He looked around the dining hall, the place where they had went to enjoy a nice breakfast just the day before. It was surprisingly intact, except a few of the windows and chandeliers were broken. Luckily, the Princess had taken measures to secure every movable piece of furniture by nailing it to the floor. The sunlight filtered through the colored glass windows that remained, casting colorful beams on the ground. Toad made his way to the front door, avoiding the little pieces of broken glass. Then he stumbled and fell to his knees in shock.

"Oh, my Mushrooms..." he managed to breathe. In front of him was what looked like a construction site; there was that much debris. He could see Toads kneeling by the concrete rubble of their houses, some sobbing and some with their fists clenched in anger. Toadette came through the door and Toad jerked forward in shock. Then he sighed when he noticed who it was.

"Toadette? You scared me." he chuckled.

"Sorry..." Toadette apologized, and then sat down beside him. She put a hand on his shoulder, and Toad did the same, putting an arm around her back and resting his hand on her right shoulder.

"The airship already flew away, right?" Toad asked, seemingly out of the blue.

"Yeah." Toadette answered, and turned to him, looking up at his face. "But that doesn't mean we won't get them back." Toad just nodded, thinking that was a sufficient answer. They continued looking out at the wasteland in front of them, stretching as far as they could see. Toad peered out into the distance; he could barely see their house.

"What did they do on the inside?" he asked, seeing that the outside wasn't damaged at all, save for the blood writing.

"Nothing, thankfully." Toadette replied. "They just wrote that message. They didn't do anything."

"They want us to fight." Toad reasoned. "They want us to fight so they can crush us."

"Well, we just have to prove that we can't be crushed." Toadette concluded. Toad nodded and smiled.

"He has to know that we're not just Toads anymore." Toad stood up. "We're a team." Some of the Toads by their houses turned to look at each other. Some were talking to each other and nodding their heads. Toad heard some words of their conversation. They knew who had done this. "See?" Toad asked, gesturing to them. "The whole kingdom is in on this. This isn't a battle anymore, Toadette." She stood up with him. They held hands and looked out into the sky. Their minds were alike; they both had the exact same words come out at the exact same time, words that would have sufficed to describe the scene before them from the very beginning.

"This… is war."

To be continued...


	25. Planning Stage

Chapter 25: Planning Stage

Two days later, Toad was walking in the castle hallways. Peach had just given a speech about the attack and what the kingdom was going to do to take action against it. Toad never liked this; he never liked any fighting really, including the three villains he fought against years before, but in the back of his mind he knew what he had to do. This was for the kingdom, and if he had to go down fighting, then he would. He stepped out of the side door, into the military district of the castle grounds, the sky a perfect light blue. Firearms and ammunition of all sorts lined the outside barracks, gleaming in the sunlight. Toad had almost forgotten he was Brigadier General of the Mushroom Kingdom Military, which he abbreviated as MKM in his mind. He opened the door to the barracks, seeing soldiers in full battle array as he stepped in.

"Attention!" he called, and everyone snapped into the pose, hands slapping by the soldiers' sides. "At ease." Their hands now shot behind their backs, one hand clasping the other.

"Okay, we have a full-scale war on the horizon here. I think you guys are prepared with your marks on training, but we should conduct a last session just to be safe. Give it your all cause soon enough, we'll be facing the real thing. Understand?"

"Sir, yes sir!" the militia resounded.

"Good." Toad smiled. "Move out!" The soldiers obeyed, their red and blue garments going with them, dispersing from formation. They grabbed the firearms from the racks and moved to the firing range. Minutes later, shots filled the air. Toad walked around the side of the barracks and looked at the targets curiously to see where the soldiers were hitting. Most of them were firing with deadly accuracy, the bullets from assault rifles and pistols meeting the shoulders, head, and heart of the humanoid target. Some of them, though, were either hitting in less lethal places or just missing entirely.

"Break!" The gunshots ceased and the soldiers turned to look at Toad. "Lieutenant Steven, come here." A Blue Toad walked between the soldiers up to Toad.

"Yes, sir?"

"Shoot at that target for me." Toad instructed, pointing to a target around thirty yards away. Steven obeyed, opening fire, but nothing hit. "Stop!" He did.

"Now, some of you are holding the gun out still. Very few of you, but you guys should know this by now." Toad took the rifle from Steven and held it in his hand. "You pull the gun in tight to your chest..." He did, the metal up against his ribs. "Turn..." He turned to the right, his front facing the side of the gun, which was still pointing at his target. "Aim..." He turned his head and aimed down the sight, locked on. "And fire." He pulled the trigger, a single round flying from the rifle and embedding itself into the heart of the target. The soldiers looked on.

"I want every single one of you to do exactly that." Toad instructed. "Continue!" The firing resumed. Toad walked around, watching the bullets zip through the targets with ease. He smiled to himself. _This will be great. _heassured.


	26. Bulletproof

Chapter 26: Bulletproof

Back in the hospital, a figure stirred underneath the white blankets of his hospital ward. Bowser Junior slowly sat up with a grunt, his feet still under the blankets. The blue and white striped privacy curtain flapped in the breeze, made possible by the open window to his right. Junior looked at his shoulder; it was stitched up, but still hurting. He would need to lay off it for awhile. He looked to his left and saw a biscuit and a glass of water on a metal tray, undoubtedly placed by the nurses that came every morning to serve him breakfast. He gingerly reached out and clasped the glass, downing it with one round of gulping and half-slamming it back down on the table, as if taking a shot of an alcoholic beverage. He chuckled, knowing he was too young for that stuff, at least for now. The sunlight filtered through the curtain of the open window, making striped patterns on the floor.

Then he saw another thing, a card and box on his nightstand. They both were pink and red, so he assumed that they were from some girl, but he really didn't know who would send him a present at a time like this; the scenario was too bleak. Who would send a card and a present to a villain, a person loathed by almost everyone in the Mushroom Kingdom? He reached out for the card, which slipped between his claws a few times before he got a hold of it. He opened the envelope and saw the card, hearts all over it as decoration. _It's not even Valentine's Day. _he thought. _Who would send a card to me anyway? Especially a girl? _He opened the card and looked at the insides, then was astonished by the number of words on the page. He began to read, growing more astonished with every sentence.

"Dear Junior,

Hi there! I just wanna check on you and see if you're enjoying yourself here in the Mushroom Kingdom! It's nice isn't it? I hope you can get out of the hospital soon. Me and Toad have been through a lot together since we've rescued you, and I really wanna tell you all about it!"

Junior stopped partway, then smiled. He knew who this was from.

"Anyway, hope you get this message, get well soon, and stay happy! I like you that way; it makes us happy too!

Sincerely,

Toadette Kinopio

P.S. You win the title for 'Most Unfortunate Initials'. Just wow..."

Junior laughed as he read the last sentence, and set the card back on his nightstand. He knew she didn't have a crush on him or anything, but he couldn't stop thinking about how sweet she was to send him this.

"I know who I'm gonna be thinking about today..." he sighed happily, as he plopped his head back on the pillow and turned on the TV mounted on the corner of the wall. He flipped through channels, none of them cable.

"Boring, boring, boring, meh, boring... Why does this TV not have cable?" he questioned, placing the remote down at his feet for a second. "That's, like, the basic for TVs anywhere!" he added, and picked the remote up again. "I swear, this place is nothing like the ship when it comes to entertainment, and that's saying something..." he murmured, half chuckling at his own words, as he kept flipping through the TV stations.


	27. The Nightmare

Chapter 27: The Nightmare

Toad and Toadette were in their room after another day. They were cuddling together like always, smiles on their faces. But that was not the case for long. Toad's lips curled down into a frown. No one knew what was going on in his head that night.

Toad was in his room in his dream, sitting at a desk, working on something. Then the phone rang. He didn't recognize the number on the caller ID, so he ignored it, and the ringing stopped. But then the handset rang again, from the same number. Again Toad ignored it, and it stopped again, but then the insistent ringing resumed for a third time. Toad groaned and finally picked it up.

"Hello?" There was no answer. "Hello?" he asked again. Still no answer from the mysterious caller. He was about to put the phone down when a crash was heard. "Sir, ma'am? You okay?" He was worried, as he believed that crash happened to the person on the other side. Then, finally a voice was heard.

"So... It's you." The voice was deep, menacing.

"Who are you?" Toad demanded.

"That is classified information. Perhaps the better question is... who are _you_?" Toad heard screaming and crying.

"What are you doing?" Toad asked, worried.

"Listen very carefully. I have your girlfriend's daddy on one side of the room, and ten civilians on the other. We have guns trained on all of them." Toad gasped. "Modified revolvers," the caller continued, "capable of going right through the head in a single shot."

"What? What are you saying?" Toad demanded, fear starting to creep up.

"You have three minutes to decide who you want to save." the caller stated. "If you do not decide in time, all of them will die. Make your choice... Kinopio." The last thing Toad heard was a muffled shout.

"Do the right thing!" Toad then growled.

"You monster! You can't do this! You can't!" He shouted into the phone, but the line then cut out. Toad hung up the phone with trembling hands. He mused in silence, not moving, thinking about his options fearfully. The three minutes passed relatively quickly. The last words of the call - _do the right thing_ \- kept echoing in his mind. Soon, the phone rang again from the same number. Toad slowly grasped it and picked it up , tears streaking his face.

"So, have you made your choice?" The caller asked. Toad wept in his hands.

"The c-civilians... Save them." As if in answer, several gunshots and screams were heard, then a gruesome thud as a body fell to the floor.

"Tyler Kinopio is dead." the caller announced. Toad then balled his open fist and screamed.

"You will NEVER get away with this, you MONSTER! DO YOU HEAR ME? _NEVER_!" He slammed the phone down onto the receiver, then unplugged it and, with a primal scream, threw it against the wall. The impact caused the keypad to shatter, the number keys flying everywhere. The phone crashed onto the floor, and Toad fell onto his knees, looking at the wreckage and sobbing into his hands.

Toad then jostled awake with a shout, panting and sweat rolling down his back. He looked around their room, as a wave of dread rolled through his body at what he just witnessed inside himself.

"I have to warn them..." he whispered as he looked at his love, her pink pigtails in front of her cherub-tinted cheeks, still sleeping soundly as if nothing had happened.

To be continued...


	28. Confession

Chapter 28: Confession

**Sorry, couldn't think of anything better.**

Toad's eyes remained open for the latter half of the night. Thoughts flew through his mind, many of them. _This isn't real._ Most of them were that phrase, or something of that sort. _This won't happen in real life. It can't. _After long thinking sessions and attempts at sleeping again, Toad finally saw daylight through the curtains. He waited some more, despite the nightstand clock reading 7:12 and it clearly being time to wake up.

After around an hour more, Toadette finally stirred and turned over onto her back. Toad looked at her as she slowly woke up.

"Good morning." he greeted.

"Morn-" Toadette began, but was interrupted with a loud yawn coming from her mouth, causing her to giggle afterward and sit up. "Morning." she finished. "Is it Saturday?" she asked, flopping back down onto the bed.

"Yeah, I think so."

"Good, cause you have no idea how tired I am." Toadette sighed.

"How are you tired?" Toad asked. You slept through the whole night. I only slept, what, two hours?"

"Two hours? Why on earth would you be awake that long?" Toadette asked back suspiciously.

"Do you really want me to tell you?" Toad sat up.

"Of course I want you to tell me." Toadette answered, sitting up as well. "I promise I won't get mad."

"No, this kind of thing probably won't get you riled up... It's just that... Well..." Toad hesitated. "I had a dream."

"What kind of dream?" Toadette countered, the inevitable question.

"Well, someone called me on the phone and..." Toad gulped. "There was your dad on one side of the room and some civilians on the other. I had to choose who to save. They... were all at gunpoint."

"That's horrible..." Toadette nodded in agreement and rolled over to him, patting his leg. "So who did you choose?"

"The civilians." Toad answered, still looking off at the wall. "I hope you're not mad about that, but I just wanted to-"

"Of course I'm not mad, Toad." Toadette smiled. "You did the right thing."

"I did?" Toad asked, skeptical.

"Of course you did. I mean, in my eyes you did. I love my dad, but I think he'd be willing to die for the benefit of others."

"Really?"

"Yeah!" Toadette smiled and kissed his cheek. "Speaking of, you should meet my parents sometime. I mean, they've seen you and all, but they'd like to get to know you sometime."

"Well what am I gonna say to them? 'Hey, I'm kinda busy right now, a giant Darkland lizard is trying to take over the kingdom'?" They both laughed at that. "But seriously, I'm gonna have to pass until all this is over."

"That's fine." Toadette smiled. She moved closer to Toad and put a hand behind his back. Toad smiled.

"Glad you're fine with it." he chuckled. "I'll go make breakfast." He walked downstairs, whistling a tune, while Toadette smiled and gazed at him all the way down.

To be continued...


	29. Darkland

Chapter 29: Darkland

Meanwhile, as the Mushroom Kingdom itself was preparing for defense, the other side, Darkland, was preparing for offense. Geysers of flame littered a desolate wasteland of purple trees, withered grass, and dry ground in general. Out in the distance was Bowser's castle. He had rebuilt and remodeled it since its destruction years before. Inside of it, the Darkland militia - mainly Koopas and Goombas armed with small pistols - was practicing attack formations. Bowser sat behind them with his superiors, Petey Piranha and Gooper Blooper; the latter was in a tank, obviously.

"Okay, so last attack, we tried to storm the heart of the kingdom, Peach's castle, here." Bowser pointed a claw to that point on an elaborate map of both the lands. "The result was that everyone hid in an underground bomb shelter. We destroyed some regions here and here, but no deaths, no hierarchal collapse, and now they're plotting a counterattack. My question to you guys is, 'Where should we strike to hinder them?'"

"Well..." Petey rubbed a leaf on his chin. "We could always try again. I'm sure the castle is weaker now that we've dropped the bombs."

"Petey, you're missing the point." Blooper stated, bubbles coming out of his mouth as he spoke. "The problem is that they can always relocate. So even if you destroy one of their buildings, they can always move to another or rebuild it. What they can't rebuild is life. So we need deaths." he explained.

"But how? They outnumber us in force; they have strategy on their side." Petey argued.

"Wait." Bowser interrupted. "We don't need deaths. What we need is to deprive them of their motivation. Have you seen their spirits lately?"

"No..." Petey looked confused.

"Well, I sent a spy to their military camp, disguised as a Blue Toad. Toad himself was their leader, and it was in very high morale-"

"Oh, my- why didn't you just kill him right there!?" Petey shouted.

"Let me finish. It was in very high morale, and from the looks of it, they were hitting with lethal accuracy around ninety percent of the time. So it was useless to attack; they would've killed him before he even got the chance."

"I see. So you're saying that if we deprive them of their motivation, they'll do worse."

"Exactly." Bowser agreed. "Which means wiping the two Toads out, or at least capturing them."

"But how? It's not like we're going to send more ships; they'll see us from a mile away."

"We are." Bowser said, and Petey looked confused again. "Just after we fire the mortar at their house." he finished. Petey then smiled, getting the message.

"When are we going to carry this out?"

"Tonight." Bowser replied. "Get everything ready by then, and we'll have everyone around to watch you fire." He walked off to the throne room, while Petey, carrying Blooper's tank, went to explain the dastardly plan.

"Why was I so stupid? I was thinking to wipe out the kingdom with brute force, destroying everything. But now... Now all I need is two people." He looked at wanted posters of the two, that he had posted all around the castle. "They destroyed my allies... Fawful, Antasma... They once helped me. And now, to avenge them, to prove that I still deserve to be king of Darkland..." With a menacing grin, he pointed his claws at the posters.

"All I need... are those two dead."

To be continued...


	30. Molten Sleet

Chapter 30: Molten Sleet

**This chapter name is a reference to a chapter name in the first book. Anyone who finds it gets kudos :3**

The night passed slowly for both lands, the Mushroom Kingdom settling down after an eventful day of military preparation. Darkland was anything but settling down, and cheers could be heard from all across the land as a fireball escaped the barrel of a wall-mounted mortar, sailing high into the air toward its intended destination.

Toad was having trouble sleeping as winds whipped the trees against the walls of the houses. He sat up, rubbing his eyes, and looked out the window. He could see Peach's castle to his left, Toad Town to his right, and a shiny object in the sky.

"Ooh, pretty." he smiled, propping his elbows on the windowsill. "Huh?" He squinted. "Why is it getting... bigger?" He stared at it for a couple more seconds, then realized the danger that was coming. He sprang from his position to the bed, and shook Toadette.

"Toadette. Toadette, wake up." She didn't stir; she was out cold. He chuckled. "Sleepyhead." He picked her up and slowly walked downstairs and out the door with his cargo. Once he was outside, he looked at the sky to see the mortar's progress.

"A minute, I'd say. That should be plenty." He walked down to the end of the street that was furthest away from Darkland's castle and from the mortar's impact zone. Around seventy seconds later, the mortar struck, setting the roof of their house on fire and burning a hole in the roof. Aside from that, however, it didn't do too much. Toad sighed in relief.

"That wasn't so bad." Still carrying Toadette, he began to walk back. Then he heard a faint boom in the distance, then another and another. He looked up to see more shiny flares going higher into the sky. There were five of them.

"Oh, what... They have more?" He looked at them in disbelief. "They're going rapid fire- oh, mushrooms." He looked at Toadette in his arms, still sleeping soundly. Toad then ran back to his house and set her down softly on the front porch. Afteewards, he went to his neighbor's house and started knocking on the door. When there was no answer, he knocked harder. The door opened to a Green Toad.

"What in blazes- Toad? What are you doing here?"

"Listen, you may not believe me, but you're in danger. Darkland is firing at us and mortars are coming here. You have to leave now, okay?"

"Are they really?" The Green Toad pushed past him and looked off. "Oh, my goodness." He looked at Toad, then back out again.

"It's your decision, but I'm going to warn other people." Toad stated calmly. "Stay safe." He ran off across the street to warn others. The Green Toad looked back at his own house, then walked inside and looked at a black and white photograph on the wall. It was of him and another Toad at what looked like a fancy restaurant. He looked at it for a couple seconds, then took it off the wall and walked out to inform others of the threat.

Word of the impending fire passed quickly. Three minutes later, a small crowd of around twenty had formed on the side of the street that Toad had retired to earlier. They all looked on in almost complete silence, save for the occasional murmur. Toad then realized something.

"Oh, damn it..." he cursed under his breath, turning to the nearest person. "I'll be right back." He ran off toward his house for a second time. The journey itself took a minute, so the mortars were well on their way. When Toad got there, he slowly picked up the sleeping Toadette from the porch and ran back. His precious cargo, however, made him slower on the return trip. He risked a glance at the sky behind him. Some of the mortars were deviating off the path, but at least three were heading for their house again.

"Thirty seconds." he judged, and kept running, or at least what he could consider running with a Toad in his arms that he was trying not to drop above all else. He made it back to the crowd and, seconds later, the mortars hit, destroying what was left of Toad's house and damaging the surrounding structures. The crowd looked on in a mix of awe and disbelief. The fire from the burning houses was the only source of natural light.

"Why did you help us if you were the only person being targeted?" someone asked.

"I just wanted you all to be safe." Toad replied. "I don't know what they're planning." A few minutes passed before the crowd as a whole began to walk back, the people thanking Toad as they went. When all was done and the houses that weren't destroyed were occupied again, Toad looked at his own. The walls were still standing, and he could see the blood writing on one of them that Bowser had left, still perfectly legible.

"Your time is up. You will be left with nothing." Toad read aloud. "Yeah. I remember this." He balled his fists, set down Toadette, then ran up to the wall at full speed and kicked the wall as hard as he could. He stepped back and looked down.

"Why does everything have to be like this...? Why do they always try to destroy a perfectly harmless society?" he questioned. "Why does the kingdom have to suffer?" He walked back towards Toadette and sat down next to her. "There's just so much to ask." He looked at the wreckage for a couple minutes, until he heard Toadette yawning and finally starting to come around.

"Ahhh, good mornin- Huh? What's going on? Why am I so cold..?" she asked, rubbing her eyes. She suddenly gasped and put her hands over her mouth when she saw the scene in front of her. "T-Toad? What happened, Toad?" she asked him worriedly, turning to him. Toad put a hand on her shoulder.

"Relax, Toadette. Everything will be okay." he assured.

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah. I'm sure." Toad replied, as he walked up to the rubble and started digging through it with Toadette looking on. A few minutes passed before he found what he was looking for and dug it out. It was the locket from Flower Hill, badly blackened, but still perfectly usable. "In case you were wondering..." he started, looking out into the night. Toadette gazed at him for an explanation.

"It's the first act of war. That's what happened." he answered solemnly.

To be continued...


	31. The Battlefront

Chapter 31: The Battlefront

Toad sighed as he felt the white brick wall of Peach's castle. He sat outside the military quarters, looking out at Darkland.

"In just a few hours... we'll be going out there." he thought to himself. He looked back at the courtyard, where higher ranking officers were teaching lower ranking ones. He looked at the pistol in his belt. "I really don't want to use this." he said. "But I really do have no choice in the matter." He walked through the doors of the castle, where military were taking over; ranks of them were filing up and down the halls, with almost no other people. He saluted as each of them walked past, and they saluted back, walking out in formation to the courtyard. He looked around for a certain Koopa Prince, walking up and down the hall. The face of Bowser Junior appeared through a door.

"Hi Toad." he smiled, walking towards him. He had a medical bandage on his left shoulder where he had sustained the gunshot wound, but otherwise he was looking healthy.

"Hey, Junior. You sure you're up to participating in this?" Toad asked him, patting his shoulder. For once, he didn't have to lean up to do so; they were roughly the same size.

"Yeah, I'm totally up for it. Anything to support you guys." he smiled.

"Aww." Toad smiled and chuckled. "Alright, see you out there." He walked off to join the other battalion. He looked at his 'army', assault rifles at the ready. He walked around to the front and stood surveying the battalion, about a hundred strong.

"Alright. I hope you guys are all ready, because we're going in. I ask you the same question I've asked of you before... Are you willing to risk your lives to go down fighting for the Mushroom Kingdom? Are you willing to leave your families behind and face your fears to do what is right?"

"Sir, yes sir!" the militia responded.

"Can I get a louder 'Sir, yes sir'? I want to hear it!" Toad ordered.

"_Sir, yes sir!_" they repeated, louder.

"That's what I like to hear! Let's go!" Toad marched out of the courtyard in front, with the battalion not far behind. Soon, other sub-armies could be seen filing out from the same position, seven in all. Bowser Junior was in one of them, pretty inconspicuous among the other Toad soldiers considering he was wearing a disguise. The two kingdoms were officially at war.

After around two miles of walking, Battalion One, Toad's battalion, faced the barren landscape that was the edge of Darkland. One could consider this to be World 8 in Mario's plat forming days.

"Alright. Now, armies could be coming at any moment." Toad whispered so as not to be detected as easily. "So I want you all to find the nearest cover possible. Trees, trenches, river beds , anything. Okay?" The soldiers responded with a salute, indicating 'yes', and went off in different directions. Toad himself went off for a tree close to where he was standing.

Hours passed, and the militia kept waiting. Soldiers took food rations out of their bags to nibble on every once in awhile, but otherwise it was completely silent save for the nature - if one could even call it that - of Darkland. The tree that Toad was standing under was unfortunately rotten, so dead branches kept falling down on him, breaking apart on impact due to their low structural integrity. Finally, a soldier caught a glimpse of a Koopa with a blue hat. Then another, and another. He waved to Toad and signaled 'look', then pointed up like he had an idea. The message meant that he had seen enemy resistance.

Toad understood, and gave him signals back. First he pointed to himself, then out, with two hands, to the land where the army was. This meant the soldiers would move out and fire when he gave the signal. The soldier nodded, and gave word to the soldier beside him. Toad waited a few minutes for the news to get around. After he saw the general walk forward a couple paces and look around, he took out his assault rifle. It was small just for him, with a tiny stock and scope to boot. After the enemy walked forward a few more paces, he jumped out of his cover without warning and began firing, missing the general but hitting two others behind him. That gave the signal for the enemies to begin firing their pistols, which made everyone else jump out of cover and begin firing as well. Bullets filled the air, but more on the Mushroom Kingdom's side, as they were loaded with assault rifles instead of regular pistols. It felt like Toad could hear every shot that was fired, every hit, every groan of anguish as the receiver died a slow and painful death. But he kept firing, taking the baddies down one by one. It was all he could do.

The war was officially underway.

To be continued...


	32. Trial By Fire

Chapter 32: Trial By Fire

As the battle raged on, shouts of dying soldiers filled the air. No strategy was implemented; neither side had time for one. One bullet whizzed by Toad's shoulder, and another barely missed him not long after. However, what Darkland soldiers had in numbers, the Mushroom Kingdom soldiers made up for it in accuracy, taking down baddies left and right. Another problem was Darkland's formation: it was narrow. There were more lines of soldiers than soldiers in those lines, so the other side could take most of them out before they even had a chance to shoot. Half an hour later, the general was still alive, but he turned back to the soldiers on his side.

"Retreat!" he ordered in a desperate voice, and Goombas and Koopas ran in all directions. The Mushroom Kingdom ceased fire and watched. Toad put the assault rifle back into the sheath on his back. They surveyed the carnage. The Darkland soldiers had suffered over a hundred casualties, but the other side had only one. Toad looked at the single Toad soldier that lay among ten other Goombas, inert. He walked over, and saluted in the direction of the fallen soldier. Then he turned back to the others in his battalion.

"Okay, soldiers. For now, we wait here for the other battalions to come. Then we storm the castle. Understand?"

"Sir, yes sir!" the militia responded.

"Good. Can anyone give me ideas on where we should hide?" he asked. Everyone pondered that for a couple minutes, hot winds blowing in their faces as they did. Then a Blue Toad noticed a rock outcropping in the distance, with what appeared to be a cave.

"We can hide in there, sir." he suggested.

"There could be monsters in there." another soldier wearing green countered.

"So what? We can fight them off."

"What do you mean, we can fight them off? They're probably planning an ambush."

"Well, we can't just sit here and do nothing! They're gonna find us like that!" Toad raised his hand up in the air, and the soldiers stopped talking.

"We're going in there. It's better to have a shelter than to just sit out here in the open. Anyways, if we tell the others where we are, they'll have a better chance of finding us." he said. "Come on." He walked towards the cave, and the rest of the battalion followed. The two soldiers stayed in the back, and the Blue Toad playfully punched the green one in the shoulder.

"Told you so."

"Oh, shut up." the other replied in banter. They reached the cave, and the first thing they saw inside was steam, and lots of it. Toad could barely see, so he reached into his pocket and pulled out a portable fan.

"See? I told you guys to pack this, because it would be useful." he stated, and some of his soldiers groaned in response. He turned on the fan, dispersing a small amount of steam in front of him. They started walking deeper into the cave, when they heard voices.

"So what does Master Bowser have planned?" a gruff voice asked. Toad stopped in his tracks, and put a hand up to signal the army to stop too. He slowly walked forward, keeping his hand up to tell them to wait.

"It should be good; we don't want another loss." This voice was equally as gruff as the first; Toad concluded that the two must be of the same species.

"Well, given the size of our army I think we should be okay."

"Yeah, man, but the mushroom guys - what are they called?"

"They're Toads, you idiot. That's the third time now."

"Oh shut up. Anyways, Toads aren't dumb, you know. We need to come up with a backup plan, man."

"Why? They may not be dumb, but one bullet to the foot and they're pretty much dead." As Toad was listening, he pulled out a capsule, a flash grenade. He discreetly rolled it at their feet.

"Yeah, that's true. They're as weak as- hey, what's that?" Toad had the faintest smile on his face as the flash grenade exploded, a blinding light coming from the alcove in which the voices were heard.

"Ahh! I can't see anything, man!"

"What in the name of Darkland is this?"

"Someone's attacking us, idiot! Just sit down until it wears off." Toad motioned for the army to come with him, as he looked into the alcove.

"Whoever's there, this is the Mushroom Kingdom army. Come out with your hands up." he asserted.

"No! We're loyal to Darkland, and we'll never succumb to the likes of you!" one of the voices responded.

"If you say so." Toad shrugged, but the hostiles weren't able to see it. He took out his assault rifle and walked into the now-fading light. As soon as he saw a silhouette crouched down onto the floor, he slammed the stock of the rifle straight into its head. A scream of pain was heard and it stumbled back, falling against the wall of the cave. As the light cleared, Toad could see that the two shapes were actually humanized Bullet Bills, their cannons on the floor beside them. They looked very tough and muscular, but one was already out of commission. The other swiftly put his hands up after seeing his accomplice on the floor.

"Okay, okay! What do you want- _Toad?_" He stepped back in shock as he saw just who had knocked the other Bullet Bill out. "H-How did you-"

"Stop talking, or I'll do the same thing to you." Toad interrupted, and the man did as told. "Good. I have reinforcements five feet away from me, so don't bother trying anything." He stepped forward. "Now why the hell are you two here?"

"We were just talking! We had to escape from the carnage going on in the castle." the Bullet Bill explained.

"Carnage?" Toad questioned. "Explain."

"Well, Bowser's just hamming the other people and he's all like 'We gotta prepare for this war' and everything, so he pretty much is going crazy over exterminating you. And another Toad, but I'm not sure what her name was. Anyway, he's pretty much made the castle a war zone, people firing their guns and shooting ballistic missiles all over, man. So I had to get out of there with my buddy and all."

"I see." Toad mused. "So Toadette - that's her name - is being hunted down too?"

"Heck yeah she is."

"Do you have any idea where Bowser had last seen her?"

"Why should I tell you that-" the Bullet Bill started, but Toad ran forward and pushed him to the ground with ease. "Okay, okay! I'll tell you. She was last seen running across with her army of whatever, straight towards the castle." Toad put his hands over his mouth.

"Oh, I told her not to do that!" he cursed. The Bullet Bill shrugged.

"To tell you the truth, man... She's probably captured right now."

To be continued...


	33. Rage

Chapter 33: Rage

"_WHAT?" _Toad cried out in ferocity, pinning the Bullet Bill to the wall in an instant. His grip got tighter as he realized what his captive had just informed him. "You're just telling me that _now?" _His fingers dug into the Bullet Bill's shoulder as the latter cried out in sudden pain.

"Stop hurting me man! I told you what you wanted me to!"

"Shut up!" Toad punched him in the face, causing him to fall to the floor. "You just made me waste precious minutes pounding useless information out of you!"

"W-what do you mean?"

"You could've just _told_ me she was captured, and it would've been done. But _no_ \- you had to stall me for time just so I couldn't get to the castle, didn't you?" he accused, blinded with rage. He took out his rifle again and pointed it at the man's head. Without a response, he prodded his head, causing his cranium to slam into the rock wall. "_Answer me!"_

"Okay, okay man. I just... forgot about it." the Bullet Bill reasoned, clutching his head in pain.

"You forgot about it - don't give me that crap!" Toad kicked him in the gut, and he doubled over in agony.

"Stop it! Just stop! I didn't mean to stall you! I just wanted to deliver a message, man!" This finally made Toad cease, pulling away from him. He looked the Bullet Bill in the face, and saw fear in his eyes.

"Okay." He stepped back. "But if you do anything to hurt anyone on our side..." He slid his hand across his neck. The Bullet Bill flinched as Toad walked out of the alcove and motioned the battalion to walk out of the cave. As they walked across the barren landscape, the soldiers began to slump and feel tired.

"Why do we have to _do_ this?" the same Blue Toad from before asked.

"I told you before..." the Green Toad groaned. "We have to save the Mushroom Kingdom. Where's your patriotism?"

"Not that. Why do we have to slog through this wasteland? It's so _hot_!" the Blue Toad exclaimed in exasperation.

"Just deal with it man. We're almost there." The battalion arrived at the castle a few minutes later. Surprisingly, no troops were outside, no defenses were firing... nothing. Toad looked around, not knowing how to proceed. He spied a bit of red that looked out of place from the other decorations. He motioned the army to follow, cautiously approaching the red splatters. He came to an alleyway between some brick-lain defense towers, searchlights sputtering on the top. He noticed that the red spelled out letters on the brick.

"This is... in blood. Again." he mused. He read out the writing slowly. "'There is only one true ruler.'... What is he talking about?"

"Sir?" the Blue Toad piped up, and Toad turned to look. "There's more." He pointed to the other tower, on which there was more red.

"'No one stands in his way.'" Toad read aloud. "'No one.'" he finished. Underneath this sentence, there was a crudely painted arrow pointing to a blast door on another building.

"Is he asking us to go in there? Because quite frankly, I don't know if we should." the Blue Toad chimed in. "I mean, it could be a trap."

"This is true." Toad agreed. "Everyone, weapons ready." The army drew their firearms as if it was one entity. Toad approached the door, which had a dial on it for protection. He put his tiny hands on the dial and put a finger up, to signal everyone to be quiet. He listened closely as he turned the dial to the right, then slowly reversed, then reversed again. He heard an audible click and pulled on the door. It slowly opened with a loud creaking metal-on-metal sound.

The first thing they saw were chains, lots of them. One chain even clinked on Toad's foot as he walked in. He noticed that some of these chains were anchored to the wall, and some had a heavy black ball on the end. He realized what was going on here.

"Guys... this is a prison chamber." he announced. The army refused to advance any further for some reason, but Toad kept heading deeper into the room. Then he saw silhouettes. People were here. He pointed his rifle at one of them, readying himself. He squinted, but was unable to get a better look.

"Here, use this." a voice permeated the silence, and something was thrown to him. Toad looked at it, saw a switch, and flicked it. It was a flashlight, the glow illuminating the surrounding area. He pointed it to the army and gave a thumbs-up as thanks to the person that gave it to him. Then he flashed it at the silhouette to see who it was. The realization made him step back, a look of horror on his face. The figure had its eyes glazed, its mouth parted in what seemed to be a death-like state. He flashed the light all around to see more of the same.

He knew these people.

He dug into his pocket and fished out his walkie-talkie. He turned the dial and spoke up.

"This is Toad here, over." A couple seconds passed before a voice was heard on the other end.

"Hey, Mario here. Everything's fine over here. What's up?" Toad was silent for a few more seconds.

"Sorry to spoil the mood, but... you're not gonna believe this."

To be continued...


	34. Genocide

Chapter 34: Genocide

"There's..." Toad tried to explain, but it was hard considering he was experiencing the very same thing. "We're in a prison chamber, and it looks like Bowser has taken his own hostage." he began, pacing around the stone floor.

"Like who?" Mario asked over the walkie-talkie.

"I see... I saw Larry, one of the Koopalings. He's out cold, and it looked like he was dead." Toad told Mario, and kept flashing around the flashlight. "Can someone try and find a light switch around here?" he asked, and the shuffling of feet commenced; the army began searching for one. The light flickered around the room as Toad looked around trying to figure out if there was anyone else.

"I see... hmm... I don't see anyone else- aah!" Toad stepped back. There was a body that looked similar in size and shape to the first one. "It's... Wendy." He shone his light on the body, and indeed, it was her, her power rings overlapping near her. Her pink bow still adorned her, but it was caked with dried blood.

"You still there?" he asked, but all he could hear now was static. "Hmm... huh. Must have cut off." Toad lifted the Koopaling's arm, and winced. He put his pointer finger under where he thought her wrist was. Surprisingly, he could feel a faint pulse.

"She's alive. Barely, though. I wonder if all the others are. Hey, you there!" Toad pointed to a Green Toad who was just happening to come his way.

"Yes, sir?"

"Can you check on Larry over there? Check his pulse, I mean? I want to see if he's still alive."

"Why would you want to do that, sir?" the Toad asked, confused. "They're our sworn enemies. Shouldn't you not care about all this?"

"We'll discuss the ethics later." Toad informed him. "Now go."

"Yes sir." The soldier ran off. Suddenly the room was flooded with fluorescent lighting, and everyone squinted to adjust. Toad looked around and saw that another Toad had found the light switch, giving the room a thumbs-up. Toad nodded towards him in approval and put the flashlight in his pocket now that it was unnecessary. Then he realized his mistake.

"Aw, crap." He ran to the lights and turned them off again with the flick of a switch. He turned on his flashlight again, and everyone looked at him in question. "They'll find us." he whispered, and the people who heard it nodded. He slowly walked back outside, towards the blood signs that led him here. "What is the purpose of this?" he wondered, looking around and shining his light.

"More importantly... why haven't they found us right now?" he inquired. He looked up at the guard tower, its searchlight turned off. Curiosity got the best of him, as he couldn't resist going to the side and climbing up the rickety ladder to the top. Upon reaching there, he saw a body. He walked over the little space there was and touched it. Cold as ice. He yelped and stepped back, revolted, and almost threw himself over the edge that he just climbed over.

"What in the..." He walked over once more and examined the body of the green Koopa. "He's dead too. But... why? He's a defense. Surely they would spare him..."

"Hey, Toad?" Toad looked down, and a soldier was at the bottom of the tower. "What are you doing? The whole army is over there..." He gestured to the prison chamber. "And here you are. Did you find something?"

"Yeah. Found a sentinel. Dead."

"Dead?"

"Yeah, dead as a Dry Bones."

"Why would Bowser's regiment kill their own guards?"

"That's what I was thinking." Toad agreed. "You can come up here and see for yourself."

"I'd rather not."

"Yeah, thought so." Toad chuckled. "Did you guys see anything of merit in the chamber?"

"Nothing except more death. Or what looks like-"

"They're not dead." Toad interrupted. "There has to be a way to bring them back. We just have to ask around." He climbed down the ladder and touched down. Together they walked back to the chamber and looked around. Toad turned on his flashlight again.

"There's Larry... Here's Morton. Hey, look, there's Roy, and he still has his sunglasses." he chuckled softly, although he knew that this was no reason to laugh. "Who should we ask? Where should we go?" he asked himself, clueless. A Red Toad walked up to him and tapped him on the shoulder.

"Hey, maybe we can find out about them if we capture someone... y'know, take them hostage or something." he offered. Toad turned to face him and sighed.

"I really don't like doing that... but I don't have any better ideas." he admitted. "So, find a scientist or something?"

"Yeah... Maybe they would know something. Should I go tell that to the others then?" the Toad asked.

"Yeah, go ahead. I'll see if there's anything else around here."

"Alright." The Toad walked off towards a cluster of guards who were all looking at the chains tethered to the wall. Toad walked out to the tower again, seeing the Koopa there, dead as it was. He sat down. leaning on the brick that was still intact. Then he realized something.

"Oh, no..." He ran inside frantically, and the whole company turned to look at him and his sudden hastiness, confused.

"Toadette's still in there." he explained, pointing to the wall furthest away from the door. "There's no time to lose. Come on!" He ran out the blast door again, and without missing a beat, his company followed footsteps echoing off the hard granite.

To be continued...


	35. The Search

Chapter 35: The Search

The army marched around the seemingly empty castle, Toad leading the way and being careful about any defenses. But there were none, none at all.

"It seems like a ghost town." a soldier piped up.

"Shhhhh!" another one quickly countered. The silence seemed to invade the entire battalion after that. There was absolutely no noise, save for the footsteps of the Toads with different color caps, red, blue, green, purple. Toad looked around. They arrived at another door, made of green metal and with yellow spikes on it, just like Bowser's shell. From here, they could see three towers attached to the main body of the castle. Two were on the left and right, considerably taller than the third, which was a bit more dome-shaped.

"Is this the front door?" a voice asked. Toad nodded in reply and looked at the door.

"Okay, you there." He pointed to a Blue Toad. "I want you to open that door."

"Why? Can't you do-" Before the Toad could say anything, another soldier covered his mouth, so all that came out was muffled shouting. Toad shrugged.

"Yeah, I guess I can do it. But just this once... If I get tackled, all of you owe me a coin." Toad joked. He slowly opened the door, a metal-on-metal creaking sound finally breaking the silence. Toad walked in, his company following. The first thing he saw was shattered glass on the red carpet. He shook his head and continued on, now a little more careful with his footwork to avoid stepping on shards.

"Okay, why does the castle seem... broken?" he whispered. Almost everyone gave shrugs of indifference at different intervals. They continued down the hallway, to find two doors, to their left and right.

"Split up. I'll go left, as well as Reds and Yellows. Everyone else, right." Toad instructed. "If something goes wrong, try and meet me back here. Go." The Toads did as told, the red and yellow ones circling around Toad and the rest filing through the right door. Toad led his portion of the army through the door, but that was all he had time to do before a muffled, feminine scream was heard. Then some muffled voices, one sounding frantic and one deep and full of anger.

"Looks like we found them." Toad whispered harshly. "Come on." They shuffled against the rock wall, bits and pieces of it falling on top of them. They rounded the corner to see stairs.

"No wonder he would keep her here..." a low voice reasoned. "This must be one of the towers." Toad nodded in assent, and the company began their climb to the top. All that could be heard was the Toads' breathing and footsteps.

"This... is... a long... tower." one panted thirty seconds in.

"Of course it's long." another countered. "Why would it be short? It has to... be big and menacing. That's... hah... what Bowser does." After a minute and a half, they reached the top of the ten-story spire. The first thing they saw was a Koopa Paratroopa with its wings cut. It was frantically trying to fly, but to no avail.

"Oh!" It walked over. "Thank the Koopas you're here!" it exclaimed in a high voice.

"Why would you thank us?" Toad asked. "We're your sworn enemies."

"I know... but this is much more important." The Koopa turned around so that his shell was facing them. "First of all, if you're looking for Toadette, which I'm sure you are... She isn't here." The company looked shocked almost as one entity."

"Really? How...? I swear I heard her..." Toad mused.

"All in your head. Bowser knew that you were looking for her, so he set you up by putting a female Koopa in a jail cell with a male one, and some guards to tie up and interrogate the female. He knew that it would replicate the situation you were looking for, that your brain would fill in the blanks." the Koopa explained.

"I see..." Toad nodded. The Koopa turned towards them again.

"They have similar voices and everything. They're in there..." He pointed to a small hatch up above, with a wooden door. "I mean, they've stopped now cause you're here and all... They were just following orders. I'm so sorry you have to go through all of this."

"No, it's fine. I kinda do it on a daily basis ever since you guys were at war with us." Toad answered, sitting down against the wall, knowing he could be here for awhile before he had any other clues. "Speaking of, you still haven't answered my question. We're your sworn enemies, so why are you not attacking us right now?"

The Koopa sighed and sat up against the wall a few feet from Toad. He looked at the army as a whole, sadness in his eyes. "It's a long story..."

To be continued...


	36. Darkland's Secrets

Chapter 36: Darkland's Secrets

"So... How do I tell you this?" the Koopa began. "Well, it all started... when those mortars got sent towards you. You remember those, right?" Toad nodded in response. "Okay, good. So he sent those, and when he saw construction crews rebuilding the houses, he got real mad. So his idea of preparing for warfare was, basically, 'get all the able-bodied people in the workforce, whether they wanted to or not'."

"Ah. That doesn't seem too bad..." Toad started to reply, but the Koopa completed his sentence.

"Until you realize that some lonely Koopas and Goombas don't want to go to war. You know, not everyone in Darkland has an evil personality. In fact, let me tell you something... Before Bowser's Castle was built for the first time, Darkland wasn't really that... dark. It was just like your Mushroom Kingdom, except that the Goombas and Koopas were the inhabitants of course. Plains, lakes, mountains, valleys... hell, it was a paradise, some said."

"Where did you hear this?" a soldier asked. The Koopa stood up and leant against the stone wall.

"It's just history. It's been passed down through generations. Bowser doesn't know it. I mean, if he knew it, he'd kill everyone that knew it just to get rid of it. He only wants to be remembered. I mean, once he found this place, history says that he focused the sun's rays on a rock to make lava, and let that lava melt stuff to make more lava. Then he organized that lava into ditches, and since the burnt stuff released gases into the air, it was unusually hot from then on, causing the vegetation to starve. But again, Bowser doesn't want anyone to know. He'd kill the people that did."

"But... Why?" Toad questioned. "I've never heard Bowser acting like this before."

"It's because people didn't want to go to war. He wasn't going to have people sitting around and "being lazy". So he locked them up."

"Well that doesn't make any sense." Toad countered. "That just gives them even more chances to be lazy."

"Exactly! Which is why even more people protested to be in the army. This went on for awhile, until Bowser decided he would take everyone in the army force that was remaining and train them to hell."

"And what happened to the people in the dungeon?"

"Dead. Long gone by now. No one checking on them, nothing. He sent a Koopa to go clean up the bodies, burn them in the lava."

"Wow." Toad responded, shaking his head. "So I saw the Koopalings in the dungeon too. They're still alive, but in some sorta stasis or something. Any idea what happened to them?"

"Well, I wasn't done with telling you about the training..." The Koopa sighed. "Basically, whoever didn't follow orders was beaten. Breaking any rule - including not being at roll call by six in the morning - is punishable by death. He wanted to weed out the infirm and make as strong an army as possible."

"That's not the way to do it though..." Toad shook his head again. "Is that why the defense Koopa out by the tower is dead?"

"Yeah. Bowser found the searchlight broken and thought he did it. He just mauled him."

"Wow... What made him like this?"

"Don't know... Probably his hatred for you."

"This is true. He kinda hates the Mushroom Kingdom in general." Toad chuckled, trying to lighten up the mood. "So what happened to the Koopalings?"

"Well, after awhile, the Koopalings stopped going to the army meetings. They were tired of watching the carnage I guess. After about a week, Bowser tracked the children down, one by one. He threw them in the dungeon and ordered his scientist to inject them with.. something. Don't know what it is."

"I knew it was some sorta serum... Since you don't know what it is, I'm sure you don't know a way to reverse it, huh?"

"Yeah, I don't. But I do know that someone needs to stop this... and you're just the person for the job." The Koopa looked at Toad. "I'm Charles, by the way. I was in the army until I kinda messed up. I got lucky, being locked up in here."

"Nice talking with you, Charles." Toad's battalion stood up. "Just stay here. I don't want you in harm's way. We'll find out where Bowser really is."

"Well, if I recall, he said something about an airship invasion. So you might want to look outside for the airship bays." Charles offered.

"Thanks, Charles. Seriously." Toad smiled and disappeared into the stairwell, his soldiers following.

"We'll make this happen! That's a promise!" he called from within the tower, and a rousing shout of approval from the Toads followed.

To be continued...


	37. Meanwhile

Chapter 37: Meanwhile...

As the tower remained quiet, the outsides of the castle were anything but. The Darkland army had disappeared for now, but no one could tell where. As Toad's army was running out of the castle to chase the Darklanders down, Bowser Jr's and Toadette's regimen was running in to storm the place.

"You sure this is where they are?" Junior asked.

"Sure I'm sure!" Toadette looked at him. "It's their castle, duh. Why not?"

"Well... Okay." Junior agreed. "Can't argue with logic, I guess." Toadette put her small hands on the door and pushed. It slowly opened under her force with a loud creaking noise. The same carpeted hallway presented before Toad was still here.

"Hmm.." Toadette peered into the halls as far as she could see. "Seems like there's no one here."

"Yeah... but how?" Junior questioned.

"Maybe our army left us to join them." Toadette chuckled, though Junior's expression afterwards told her it was no time for jokes. "Sorry."

"It's fine." Junior adjusted his bib and put a hand on his chin. "I mean, why did the army stay behind anyway?"

"To guard the place, remember? So no one lays siege to this place and traps us in here."

"Oh, right. Duh." Junior looked away in embarrassment. "I'm stupid sometimes."

"It's fine." Toadette assured, looking around and seeing an open door, the same one that Toad went through. "Do you think we should go through there?"

"I mean, I don't really see any other obvious place to go." Junior commented. "Let's go." They slowly walked through the door, Toadette in the lead.

"Do you have anything to defend yourself?" she asked him.

"Well, I have myself." Junior chuckled. "I think of myself as the only weapon I have."

"That's good. At least you have something." Toadette smiled. "I just have a pistol... Toad gave me this." she remembered. They found the stone staircase and began climbing up in silence. Junior spoke about halfway up.

"Hey, Toadette?"

"Yeah?"

"Do you ever feel like you've been away from home, away from your friends for years, then you come back and things just aren't the same anymore?"

"Is that how you feel now?"

"Yeah. Like seriously, everything's just not the same here. My siblings are nowhere to be found, my father's trying to take over the Mushroom Kingdom, the castle's even darker than it normally is... I don't know anymore." Junior sighed. "I just want things to go back to normal." Toadette stopped abruptly, almost causing Junior to trip. She looked at him.

"Seems like you really miss this place the way it was." she echoed, and Junior nodded slowly.

"Well, don't worry. After all this is over, you'll have your life back." Toadette smiled at him, which was kinda hard given the circumstances. Junior smiled back.

"Thanks, Toadette."

"No problem. All for optimism, right?"

"Yeah, definitely." They reached the door that led to the top of the tower, when Toadette held a finger to her mouth and listened closely.

"What happened here...?" a feminine voice pondered. Toadette put a hand to Bowser Junior.

"Wait here." she whispered, and Junior nodded. Slowly Toadette opened the door, but stayed behind it.

"Huh?" the voice grew louder, and Toadette could hear footsteps. "What's going on-" Before it could get out the door, Toadette forcefully heaved the door with all her might. It slammed shut, and she could hear a groan of pain. "Alright, who's here? Who did that?" the voice asked. Toadette opened the door again and stepped out, seeing the body and revealing it to be the boomerang-wielding high minion, Pom Pom.

"Pom Pom? What are you doing here?"

"I was just surveying the tower... looking for you." she answered. "Bowser wants you imprisoned for life, apparently. I found out from Boom Boom." she chuckled. She pulled out her boomerang from her shell. "I intend to carry out his orders."

"Alright. I knew this would happen, honestly..." Toadette then pulled out a Boomerang Flower from her pocket, and transformed, a helmet of sorts replacing her cap and gaining greaves and gloves, a pink and white boomerang in her hand. "Knew this would come in handy eventually."

"Well, looks like you came prepared." Pom Pom chuckled, putting a hand through her ponytail. "Let's dance, sugar." The next thing anyone heard were boomerangs whistling through the air of the tower.

To be continued...


End file.
